Bassel al-Assad

It?s true: There is no military solution (or quick fix) to the Syrian crisis. In order to end the bloodshed, parties have to reach a political settlement. However, what determines the bargaining power of the players at the negotiation table is their relative positions on the ground.

Voting offices opened June 3 in Syrian regime-held areas for a presidential election that Bashar al-Assad is expected to win, and that has been slammed as a "farce" by the opposition.