“In my mind, the likely prospects are for the regime’s position to deteriorate further, perhaps dramatically, in the weeks ahead, unless there’s some major change by the regime in its approach to the war,” White said.

“That could be large-scale intervention by Hezbollah forces, Iranian intervention in some way, although it’s sometimes hard to see how that could happen, or maybe the use of chemical weapons. Those are ways the regime could change, or potentially — or hopefully from its standpoint — change the direction of the battle.”

But as it stands now, Assad’s forces are “starting to look like a defeated army,” he said.