"Syrians are everywhere," an aid worker told me. "Everybody is poor now." Well over a million Syrians are scattered across Lebanon, many in small "tented settlements." Almost half live in substandard housing; many lack fuel and warm clothes for winter.

Jordan hosts even more Syrians at greater cost. (So does Turkey, though it is much larger and wealthier.) Six of every seven refugees live in poverty.

Almost five years of civil war have killed a quarter million Syrians, wrecked the country, created economic catastrophe, displaced millions and left virtually no one unaffected. As many as 5 million people have fled to surrounding countries.