Gulf countries braced for Syrian blowback and sectarian divides

The Gulf countries that have led international support for the campaign to topple the government of Bashir Al-Assad face a number of negative consequences as the bloody civil war drags on, with the increasing likelihood that the Baathist regime or some element of it will maintain control over parts of Syria for the foreseeable future. These include the threat of terrorist blowback as jihadist fighters return home, deepening ideological rivalries between Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) members, and the intensification of Sunni-Shiite divides within the wider region.