Conducting archaeological research requires direct contact with ancient sites and materials. But the escalating armed violence in Syria continues to prevent archaeologists from resuming their work on the land. Most of the international institutions shifted their focus from Syria and moved their teams and projects to neighboring countries.

In short though, it is evident that Russia exerts more influence on the whole in our region than Iran, whose role as a broker of reconciliations would have been rejected by most of the people in the south, who are suspicious of what they see as Iranian attempts to spread the Shi’i religion and its political ideology.

Although many ACS joined the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in north-east Syria to fight IS, a growing number of reports point to the human rights abuses committed by the Kurdish authorities against non-Kurdish minorities, including ACS.

It is clear that the current balance of power does not allow for any one party to triumph. At the same time, this situation cannot lead to a realistic formula for peace because of the nature of the conflicting forces.

Given that the north and north-east of Syria are considered to be the country’s bread basket and that the burning fields in Iraq are situated in fertile Mesopotamia, this may be just the beginning of a much larger disaster.

Jordan stiffened its border security rules between Jordan and Syria to fight the smuggling of weapons, ammunitions, and drugs – a traffic that had increased by 300% in 2013 alone. It has also enhanced its surveillance system to defend itself against the infiltration of IS fighters, including installing a network of radar and surveillance towers to detect the location of potential infiltrators several kilometers far off the border.

Today, life is still difficult in many respects. Water is supplied from a place called Ain Dhikr to the north, but we still have no electricity and must continue to use solar panels to generate power for the time being. The JKBW’s presence also meant that some houses and other buildings were booby-trapped with explosives. Like other areas in Syria, we have been impacted by the fuel crisis caused by American sanctions.

The actual situation in the camp remains unclear. The residents have demanded that they be allowed to return to their houses, most of which have been reduced to rubble. The regime has refused the demand and continues to make promises about reconstruction, so far with few results.

Yet Salafi views of politics and relations with the ruling authorities differ widely, ranging from a strict ‘quietist’ perspective to Salafi jihadism. Of course, many Salafi actors like the al-Nour Party in Egypt fall somewhere between these two extremes.

Of these different trends, the ‘mainstream’ reaction to the group’s defeat is the easiest to explain. It is also the least interesting since it follows the same line as much conventional analysis: that is, stressing that IS will ‘remain’ (Arabic: baqiya), and that the loss of territory does not mean the true end of the caliphate. This is a line that IS’ propaganda has promoted for some time.