syria, like most of the arab world, is divided along sectarian lines (and they themselves are divided into further factions). assad is an alawite, with a stronghold near the coast (latakia), and is aligned with russia. kurds (on the north east and on the border with turkey) are traditional allies of the us (which does exploit the oil fields they control), but they are in open conflict with turkey. shias are aligned with iran (and also indirectly with russia and the fallen regime). sunnis divide themselves into different groups, some allied with turkey, some with gulf states, some work de-facto for the us and israel. they tend to backstab each other constantly and have no real allegiance, which is why everyone likes to use them as their pet fighting force. there are other minorities (christians, druze, etc.) but they have no real power there and just go with the flow.
Australia