A week ago a IISS Strategic Comment had the title 'Syria's war: Assad gains upper hand' and partly ended:
...While its survival is no longer in question in the medium term, its ability to rebuild the pretence of a state remains in doubt, given its limited resources, internal contradictions and the reality of soft partition. Syria is, in effect, transforming into small statelets, none of which is viable on its own.
Link to a very short free passage:http://www.iiss.org/en/publications/...pper-hand-6a54