The delusion of certain Syrian officials and those in their orbit is striking. Despite the scale of the dangers and difficulties in the country, some in the halls of power act as if everything is fine.
Much has indeed been achieved in Syria within a single year. Yet the path towards building a strong, unified state is strewn with obstacles and landmines.
There is Israel, which continuously violates Syrian sovereignty and places impossible conditions on it in exchange for a security agreement. There is Iran, which has yet to come to terms with its major strategic loss with the fall of the Assad regime.
Then, there are the Syrian Democratic Forces, where an agreement signed with Damascus currently just sits as ink on paper. There is Sweida, whose wounds have not yet healed. And there are the remnants of the Assad regime, who refuse to forfeit their previous stature and power.
Then you have the Islamic State (IS) and other radical groups lurking in the shadows, which have conveniently reappeared in Syria: once in Palmyra, once in the bombing of the Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in Homs, and most recently in Aleppo, where security forces thankfully thwarted a planned attack.
