Negotiations.

This is coolbert:

"hegemony - - noun - - leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others"

Yet still further from that latest edition of the DEBKAfile news letter:

"Putin plans to end Alawite hegemony in Damascus and evict pro-Iranian Shiite militias including Hizballah"

28 January.

"DEBKAfile reports that the Russian president Vladimir Putin has prepared a plan for Syria's post-war future for presentation to the Syrian peace conference opening on Jan. 29 at the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Moscow has invited 1,600 Syrian government and opposition participants. Some rebel groups have announced a boycott."

Further and key points as proposed for the negotiations again from DEBKAfile:

* Democratic elections
* Creation of the New National Syrian Army.
* Unseat Bashar Assad.
* Expulsion of all foreign forces,

Bashar gone? At a minimum. The Alawite [nominally Shia?] comprising only 10 % of the Syrian population but ruling for decades with the proverbial iron fist!

coolbert.