Paul R. Pillar — What Breakdown of the U.S.-Russian Agreement on Syria Does Not Mean

A former intel officer breaks outs the situation in Syria in terms of different interests, alternative courses of action, and likely consequences.

Not achieving a diplomatic solution is different from being able to achieve a military one. A military resolution of the Syrian conflict is as out of reach as it ever was. The regime lacks the ability to make good on Assad's objective of recapturing every inch of Syrian territory, and the opposition is far from being able to topple the regime, even with outside help.

The National Interest
What Breakdown of the U.S.-Russian Agreement on Syria Does Not Mean

Paul R. Pillar, 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), now a non-resident senior fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies, as well as a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence.