1. Syria neck deep in civil war
The entire year was wasted in Syria in a bloody ongoing civil war with no end in sight. With estimated death toll rising above 40,000, President Bashar al-Assad's bloody struggle to cling to power symbolised the sharp end of the Arab Spring.
Worries intensified that the conflict might spread to Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey – which asked Nato to deploy Patriot missile defences along its border.
Elsewhere the Arab revolutions proceeded less violently or not at all. By year's end Egypt and Jordan were showing renewed signs of instability. In Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other Gulf monarchies, the lid on the pressure cooker was still screwed down tight.
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