Syria is naturally unstable. By attaching itself to Iran, and fighting Israel, the Syrian regime hopes to stabilize itself.
From the article:
But it wasn’t until the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon that Syria finally beat the Muslim Brothers. By joining Iran in the so-called “Islamic resistance” against Israel, Assad associated the Alawites with a cause larger [...]

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According to Gen. Michael Moseley, who was recently dismissed from his position as U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, “there is almost zero chance we will fight a nation state” in the 21st century.
While senior American flag officers acknowledge the increasing unlikelihood of great power war in the 21st century, a handful of U.S. think [...]

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A powerful earthquake struck Monday close to densely populated areas of southwestern China, flattening schools and homes and killing more than 100 people, according to early estimates.
The quake, with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, was felt in cities across a swathe of southeast Asia including the Thai capital Bangkok, more than 1,800 [...]

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Russia’s brutally high levels of mortality, along with anemic fertility levels, fashion a second “exceptional” demographic trend for the country: depopulation. In the 16-plus years since the end of the U.S.S.R., Russia has recorded over 12 million more deaths than births. Net immigration has only partially compensated for this deficit. Consequently, Russia’s population dropped from [...]

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