A man walks with his bicycle in Douma, East Ghouta, Syria, March 30, 2018 (Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)

I joined SAGE International’s The Focus, hosted by Dr. John Bruni, for a 40-minute deep dive into the latest situation in a fragmented Syria.

We discuss the position from the Assad regime’s areas to the opposition-held northwest to the Kurdish-controlled northeast. We evaluate the US position, and we look at the calculations of Russia and Iran as they prop up Bashar al-Assad amid economic crisis and more than 11 million Syrians — half of the country’s pre-war population — displaced from their homes in the 127-month conflict. And we consider the regional dynamics, as Assad strives for some measure of recognition and trade with countries like Jordan.