Syrians will need the support of a small, atypical working group comprising political and development advisers from the US, the former colonial powers Britain and/or France, Russia, and neighboring Turkey and Iran.
As improbable as such a coalition seems, unless interests are harmonized – or at least checked – across the range of diverse and adversarial outside actors with deep historical ties to Syria, there will be no effective way to curtail counterproductive and possibly destabilizing external meddling.
