More than six years since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad, he is winning on the battlefield but Syria's civil war is far from over, with his once stable country broken into fiefdoms ruled by rebels and warlords.
While few nonpartisan observers think the conflict will end soon, fewer still believe Assad can retake the whole country. But since all outside players now seem to have adjusted to his staying, no one expects a peace deal either.
Many foresee, at best, a cease-fire observed much of the time over much of a territory that will be effectively partitioned between competing forces.