Faint hope of Syria breakthrough despite signs
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos
PARIS (AFP) - After two years largely on the sidelines, the international community is finally showing signs of taking action on Syria's escalating conflict but analysts say it may be a case of too little too late.
Foreign efforts to stem the country's conflict have been paralysed since March 2011 protests against President Bashar al-Assad sparked a crackdown, armed uprising and eventually a full-blown civil war.
The rising tide of violence - with more than 70,000 killed and one million fleeing the country - has done little to push foreign powers to overcome deep divisions on how to tackle the crisis.
"The diplomacy has very clearly not kept up with the situation on the ground," said Salman Shaikh of the Brookings Doha Center, describing the Western and Arab nations backing Syria's opposition as a "Coalition of the Unwilling".
