Western governments have not changed their priorities in Syria:

—lowering asylum requests

—countering global terrorism

—maintaining regional stability and Israel's security

—lowering the bill for the humanitarian response.

Forging a fair political settlement and accountability are niceties.

In the absence of a political settlement, allowing others to empower the Assad regime while keeping the control lines unchanged, in fact, serves their interests.

That is why, in my opinion, Bashar al-Assad's odds of staying in power haven't looked this good in over a decade.