The Geneva conference has ended, but no one is packing their bags. Americans are said to be preparing for the long haul, signing leases on homes — one of many indications that Geneva I and Geneva II are struggling to give birth to a “Geneva process” that will chart a path to peace in Syria.

Geneva II was a magnet for international attention. Reporters, pretenders of all sorts, self-appointed experts and high-priced media advisers are all players in the game, not to mention the stars of the show, ministers and official representatives from all sides. 

It is easy and seductive to focus attention on these scripted encounters, which admittedly do make for some riveting political theater. Like the game of Three Card Monte, however, the political circus that is Geneva is all but unwinnable. The serious action is taking place behind the scenes — almost anywhere besides where the cameras are focused.

As noted in Al-Monitor's Week in Review, the crisis is deepening and the threat to US interests is becoming more palpable. Informed observers note that the key players in diplomacy were indeed in Geneva — they just were not in public view. Western officials, ambassadors and trusted security emissaries of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are the key players in this backstage drama, rather than the formal delegations of any Syrian party. Syrian diplomats, including veteran Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, always play according to a script written by anonymous, powerful members of the security agencies. And the “official” opposition groups — whose natural environment is the bully pulpit, not the hushed encounters in closed rooms where diplomats tame the guns on the battlefield — are not part of this back story at all.