Whatever one&#x27;s musings on the status and the notion of ethnic states etc., I don&#x27;t think the situation is comparable. In my (our?) case (Baltic states), there was (more of) a concrete &quot;bad Other&quot;, whereas in Syria a proxy war (or an array thereof) is taking place. One can perceive it as multiple groups of interest fighting, with the backing of multiple actors (and the background struggle of the extent of those actors and their backing is what might determine the outcome, if any).<p>It is easier to grok a meaningful armed struggle (which one may partake in, hypothetically) - after all, it is <i>tangible</i> and concrete, and there&#x27;s always a bad side (isn&#x27;t there), etc.; but in the completely messed up state of affairs that people in Syria find themselves in, one can&#x27;t but deduce that they are in a war zone with no certain optimal equilibrium which one can attempt to bring the future to. And that is really a different picture altogether, I would think.