Syria: Assad has won the war of survival, but endgame is unclear.
The war in Syria continues to dominate headlines, despite seemingly drawing to a close. Assad and his allies now have more definite control of the area surrounding the capital and most of the land, however they are not being allowed to reap the rewards easily and actual assertion of sovereignty is less complete. The division of the country into zones of influence is likely to continue. While Russia seems to accept this as a realistic outcome, the regime and Iran are pushing for more complete sovereignty, making the endgame less clear.
Turkey and Saudi are obviously also involved in the conflict, and the US even more so. The eventual outcome will therefore be influenced by what they want. The recent reshuffle of the Trump administration towards more hawkish characters adds a bit of heat to the situation, and people in the region are watching US actions particularly closely. Overall it seems that the Western strategy is to make sure the Iranians and Russians are going to face a long slog from here.