The Assad regime has consistently adopted an anti Western stance, aligning itself with the Soviet Union and later with Russia. Today, Syria represents Russia s only remaining toehold in the Arab world, while all of Assad s regional opponents are US allies.

No Maoist group could ever gain a toehold in Afghanistan s parched Pashtun south (these were, after all, people who, bare knuckled, smashed the Soviets). But the Taliban s rapid rise in the 1990 s was inextricably linked to the failure of irrigation systems.