Between the continued bloodshed in Syria and the military takeover in Egypt, it might be easy to overlook recent events in Lebanon. But Middle East watchers need to keep a sharp eye on the current turmoil in Lebanon because spillover from Syria could cause the security situation to flame up quickly into a full-scale sectarian civil war. Several stabilizing factors have kept the situation in Lebanon from escalating out of control, one of these being Hezbollah's resistance to being drawn into conflict with other Lebanese.

Syria cannot be allowed to fester indefinitely. Even decimated Al Qaeda and Hezbollah forces will regenerate and resume their murderous ways. Further, the economies of states in the region, already unsettled by the uprisings of 2011, will need massive outside assistance if they are to be revived.

DUBAI --- During two trips to the Middle East within the past two weeks, I have found nearly universal hopelessness about the situation in Syria and what it means for the larger region. Proposed peace talks are considered a sham, just a ploy to convince distant publics that their governments are “doing something.” No one thinks that Basher Assad, as long as he is still breathing, will relinquish power in Syria. Everyone agrees that the slaughter will continue indefinitely.

For a while, Turkey’s quest for influence, and its country’s apparent success as an affluent and highly functioning Muslim-majority society, seemed to be having the effect that Ankara desired. In a 2011 Brookings Institution poll of the Arab countries, Turkey was ranked first among countries believed to have played a “constructive role” in the Arab Spring.

Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Qazanfar Roknabadi underlined that the world public opinion is in favor of the diplomatic settlement of the crisis in Syria and Tehran is due to hold a conference later this month to this end. He stressed that the world public opinion is very much interested in seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria but certain countries fanned the flames of the proxy war in Syria and caused a true crisis there through financial and arms supports to terrorists groups.

Ishaan Tharoor wrote in the Time magazine: “Two years later [today], Turkey’s vaunted soft power looks more soft than powerful… Erdoğan, too, cuts a smaller, humbler figure on the world stage… His overwhelming support for the Syrian opposition is not mirrored by the majority of the Turkish public, and his reliance on other foreign powers to push the diplomatic envelope has resulted in something of a loss of face.”

Ishaan Tharoor wrote in the Time magazine: “Two years later today, Turkey’s vaunted soft power looks more soft than powerful… Erdoğan, too, cuts a smaller, humbler figure on the world stage… His overwhelming support for the Syrian opposition is not mirrored by the majority of the Turkish public, and his reliance on other foreign powers to push the diplomatic envelope has resulted in something of a loss of face.”