Not much, yet a thread of hope

All that the participants at the recent Lausanne peace conference on Syria could decide on was that the Syrian people alone should decide their future through an inclusive dialogue, and that the country has to be kept united and secular.

This was confirmed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the end of the meeting, who admitted that other than these basic pronouncements, there was no breakthrough in the talks.

It should not have taken so much effort and money to reinvent the wheel, but it was, of course, hoped that this last attempt at finding a peaceful end to the Syrian conflict might come up with something more outstanding, or practical, especially since the gathering brought together not only Russia and the US but also regional countries.

To bring so many countries together and come out empty handed is indeed disappointing, to say the least.

There is nothing new in acknowledging that Syrians, alone, should decide their fate in an expression of self-determination. No solution imposed by outsiders usually lasts, as history has often showed.

Regarding the territorial integrity of this Arab country, maintaining it was never an issue or a cause for disagreement among the countries working for peace in Syria.

As for remaining secular, Syria, although of a multireligious and multicultural nature, has always been secular, and unless it falls prey to the prowling extremists, there is no reason to believe that once it is free of conflict it will change that status.

Much more was expected from the Lausanne meeting, but it failed to deliver.

On the bright side, however, the fact that all the stakeholders came together in Switzerland in search of a solution to the Syrian conflict, now in its sixth year, is a promising sign in itself.

The participants must have had a common denominator that pushed them to come together, and that is all that the Syrian people can hope for and count on to end their ordeal.