Fast moving events in Syria have exceeded the expectations of many global and regional powers, and differences amongst super powers on how to resolve the Syrian conflict appear to have reignited a Cold War era style showdown in the Mediterranean. Flotillas of warships from Russia, China, the United States and some NATO countries have reportedly massed off the Syrian coast in a show of force the world has not seen since the end of the Cold War in 1990. China and Russia have used their veto power three times in the past 15 months to kill resolutions at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) aimed at tackling the situation in Syria. Moscow and Beijing have refused to impose sanctions on the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad or pass binding resolutions under Chapter 7 of UNSC charter that could allow use of force to compel the regime to comply with international will. Both countries have warned the West against military intervention to help the opposition forces topple the Assad regime.
Moscow has its only naval base in the Mediterranean in the Syrian port of Tartus, and has made it clear it wants to protect its interests in Syria, the last remaining strategic ally the Kremlin inherited from the Soviet Union. The Chino-Russian diplomatic and naval show of force appears to be sending a message to the international community that the days of a U.S.-dominated unipolar world that prevailed since 1990 has come to an end and from now on a bi-polar or multi-polar world order will be the norm.
However, while super powers and regional powers are chest-pounding to intimidate one another each trying to impose his will, the situation in Syria seem to be slipping from whatever control these powers could have there. Developments in Syria have proceeded with such a high tempo that it took a life of its own, unaffected with the squabbles at the UNSC or within the Syrian opposition parties abroad led by the Syrian National Council (SNC). The Syrian insurgents that are grouped under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have made substantial gains on the ground over the past couple of weeks. They have managed to penetrate the Syrian capital Damascus, and even controlled most of its streets for few days before regime armored forces retook most of the city. But most important of all the FSA appears to have captured most of Aleppo, the country's commercial capital and second largest city in northwestern Syria. The FSA has driven regime forces from most of Aleppo province and the nearby Edlib province, and has practically carved out an enclave along the border with Turkey large enough to act as a safety zone, which the Syrian opposition has been asking the international community to help create in the country ever since the revolution started in March 2011.
Despite the fact the West has not come to the rescue of Syrian rebels as it did to the revolution in Libya where NATO warplanes paved the way for Libyan rebels to overthrow the regime there, the FSA has proved more resilient and stronger than many observers had estimated. Perhaps being composed mainly of defected Syrian soldiers has given the FSA the ability to predict the regime's moves and use its arms depots to acquire needed weapons and ammunition, in addition to what they managed to acquire from the black market in neighboring countries using funds provided by Syrian opposition figures and Arab sympathizers. The FSA is believed to have many informers and agents within the regime forces that have helped it score major blows to the regime, including the assassination of four of its top defense and security commanders. The FSA currently has Syrian forces overstretched and exhausted all over the country. The regime is quickly running short on troops as increased defections has compelled it to keep brigades mostly made up of Sunni troops with questionable loyalty confined inside barracks and to only use four or five elite divisions made up mainly of Alawite officers and soldiers.
The Assad regime is being forced to give up territory in order to keep control of strategic positions, like the capital, Aleppo, and the western as well as the coastal side of the country. The predominantly tribal eastern part of the country has mostly fell in the hands of the rebels with just a few pockets left for the regime, and the situation is very much the same in the south. The regime has even lost control of several border crossing points with Iraq and Turkey, and is on the verge of losing control of crossing points with Jordan in the south.
