The speed with which the Assad dictatorship was overthrown has taken most external observers by surprise, including agencies from Russia, Iran, America, Britain and France. Those in the know were closer to the scene of the action – Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia – to name but three.
The governments and militaries of all three are likely to have been more than mere spectators. The immediate prospects for their nations and peoples depends very much what kind of government and order can be brought to Syria’s cracking human mosaic.
