Most of the world has a stake in the success of the talks on Syria which have begun in Geneva, Switzerland, weak though their prospects for success may appear to be.

First of all has to be the importance of the matter for the Syrians themselves. An estimated 320,000 of them have died so far in the nearly five years of war. The country itself has been torn into fragments, nearly all of which are dominated by an armed group fueled by hatred of other Syrian groups. As many as 11 million Syrians have been displaced by the war, either internally or driven into exile outside of Syria.

It is truly difficult to imagine there ever existing again a unified Syria with an agreed-upon national government. The impact of all that has happened on the economy of the country has been a death sentence on any near-time return to a reasonable standard of living for the Syrian population.

In addition, the storm of the Syrian conflict has drawn into its vortex its neighbors and a number of great international powers. These include Russia, the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and France. For Iraq the war in Syria has also meant a strengthening of the cancer of the Islamic State in its region. One of the Islamic State strongholds is Raqqa, in Syria. Another is Mosul, in Iraq.

Syria is one of the major sources of the horrendous migration of refugees and asylum seekers into Western Europe, not only severely testing the humanitarian resources of its nations, but also putting the cat among the pigeons in European Union unity. Some countries, such as Germany, have shone brightly, but even its generous people have begun to turn on Chancellor Angela Merkel in her leadership on the issue of Syrian and other migrants.

Now the talks have begun, but with serious barriers remaining to resolution of the issues and ultimate peace. United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura has pointed to two. The first is the remaining issue of which Syrian opposition groups will participate in the talks. The second is the ambivalent role of international parties: They can play a modest positive role, or they can twist the arms of the Syrian parties too hard, permitting them to disown as imposed any results that are achieved.

These talks cannot be allowed to fail. The stakes are far too high.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

(Tribune Content Agency)