Although the conference was called to chart the country’s future, the Kurdish-led militia that controls much of Syria’s northeast was not invited.

Nearly three months after Bashar al-Assad fled, much of Syria is suspended between relief at the dictatorship’s demise and anxiety over what comes next.

Syria’s new rulers have kicked off a long-awaited national dialogue conference as an “exceptional and rare historical opportunity” to rebuild the country after nearly 14 years of cvil war and the fall of former President Bashar Assad.