Obama and Putin are two figures standing at the front of a very long list of other players pushing behind them. * Qatar wants to establish a pipeline between t

Obama and Putin are two figures standing at the front of a very long list of other players pushing behind them. * Qatar wants to establish a pipeline between them and Turkey for natural gas, but Syria is between them. * Turkey would partner with Qatar for transiting natural gas to Europe. * Russia has a strangle-hold on the natural gas market in Europe, so Syria would prefer Qatar not send natural gas to Europe. * Russia's only naval base in the Mediterranean is in Syria. I won't go into the complex incestuous intertwining of geopolitical relationships, but the above points are pretty much what broke the camels back.