Is the way out of the box here some sort of de facto partition of Syria? That seems to be where Iraq is going. Everybody seems to hate everybody in the Middle East.
Yes and no, we could easily cut of a Kurdish state from Syria (if Turkey wouldn't make a hissy fit over it). But beside that western Syria are too mixed for a partition. While maps show that the Alawites live at the coast, half of them likely live spread out inland, together with different Christian, other Shia and Druze group. So a ethnic partition would take massive ethnic cleansings.
Another problem are that a partition basedf on the borders and factions on the map, would result in a Al Nusra (Al Qaeda) and a ISIS state. This are not a viable solution. The only solution of ISIS are the complete destruction of it, Al Nusra on the other hand, while connected to Al Qaeda are more moderate than ISIS but still horrible and it's mostly based on local Syrians rather than foreign adventures. So maybe a compromise could be reached. But still do anyone want a Al Qaeda Emirate in northern syria.
A interesting aspect are that if we look on culture and dialects, a split are more possible. Eastern Syria are connected to the culture and dialects in Iraq and if Iraq was partitioned, it would make sense for eastern Syria and Sunni Iraq to join into one state. the western Syrian state would likely still have a Sunni Arab majority, but instead of 60-70% of the population they will barely make up 50%
I suspect that if colonial thinking were applied to today's situation there would have been an offer to grant Turkey control over Alawite Syria as a protectorate in exchange for the creation of Kurdistan and full partnership in war against ISIS.
