The winners and losers following the fall of Assad

The stunning collapse of the brutal Assad regime in Syria, a family business since the 1970s, is a geopolitical earthquake creating winners and losers around the world. First, the losers:

- Nicholas Kristof The New York Times

• Iran is a big loser; Syria has been a close ally and a vital overland transport link to Lebanon and Hezbollah. Iran supported Syria as president Bashar al-Assad fought to remain in power during the country's horrifying civil war, and it used Syria to project power around the region. Iran has been badly weakened in recent months, and this adds to the sense that Iran's regime is possibly vulnerable and certainly a lesser power.

One question is whether all this adds to the arguments within Iran's leadership to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent.

• Russia likewise loses an important ally, and it will presumably also lose its valuable military bases in Syria. In 2015, Russia intervened militarily to back the Assad regime in the civil war, dropping bombs on civilian targets and adding to its unpopularity among ordinary citizens. Russia particularly values its naval base at Tartus, which allows it to support warships in the Mediterranean Sea.