A key requirement for a new Syrian government or governing body to be authentically ‘transitional’ is for it to have the mandate to oversee a constitutional review process through which a national reassessment of Syria’s governance and social contract can occur. If a Russian-American drafted constitution is put on the table at Syrian peace talks later this year, it will mean that this defining element of a post-settlement transitional process is effectively no longer endorsed by the international backers on either side of this civil war, yet another signal that their approach to a settlement for Syria is increasingly resembling the regime’s position.
