various shiite iraqi brigades on the side of the saudi and its allies groups such as muslim brotherhood al qaeda etc. that's the second layer of the conflict. the third layer of the conflict was what i like to think of as a renewed lobo cold war and here the strossen complex and conflict zones in other parts of the world as well as the middle east notably in ukraine. here the axis to keep in mind is that of russia versus the united states and more broadly the european union. this axis of complex followed a vigorous dramatic axis assertiveness under president putin on one hand versus what we might characterize as an exhaustion with robust and muscular foreign policy on the part of united states government. so this is the past. three types of evolving conflict civil war regional proxy war renewed global cold war and three different axes of struggle. the regime versus opposition iran versus saudi arabia and russia versus the united states and the european union. so where are we now? the question of the present. i like to view this as the moment when iraq impinged on syria. when i think back to events a