It has been five years since Syria descended into brutal warfare, and whatever happens with the current talks on its political transition, it is difficult to imagine the country returning to its prewar borders as a unified state. Indeed, negotiators are beginning to think about something radically different: partition.

Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, Secretary of State John Kerry implied that if the present cease-fire and political negotiations on Syria failed, partition could be Plan B. The Russians have openly proposed a federal solution, and, according to a United Nations Security Council diplomat, the idea of a “very loose center with a lot of autonomy for different regions” is gaining traction among major Western powers.…  Seguir leyendo »