Syria: Chemical weapons kill hundreds in Ibrin

[Anomalocaris]

I disagree, Assad has pritty much lost his rule, the question remaining is who will be his succesor.
He will certainly not be able to regain the rest of the country and even if he regains half, people in possitions of power will start questioning his capability to keep the country stable.

It is easyly possible that Assad is not even responsible for this recent attack and that his generals have started to act on their own behalf.

I think Assad has not lost, and at this point can be reasonably be assured of control over enough of the country in the medium term to make Russian interests in Eastern Mediterranean safe. It is not to say he may not be offered some kind of very comfortable retirement in the near future, but certainly his regime will survive, and Arab spring in his country won't.

As America become less dependent on energy import, its interests in the middle east will decline. Coupled with its increasing focus on containing China's ability to challenge its preeminance in East Asia, America's willingness and indeed capacity to check Russia influence western Asia is likely in long term declining.

China and Russia interests in west Asia probably coincide. Indeed China will probably do what it can to strengthen Russian power in Western Asia just to divert American interest away from East Asia.

No European power seem to have the capacity, the willingness, or the steadiness and perseverence to thwart Russia.

So the ability of Putin to effectively shape the outcome of Syrian civil war (probably with tacit collusion from Israel) suggests Russia is reemerging as the long term dominant outside influence in western Asia.