What happens next in Aleppo will shape Europe’s future

There are people down there. Aleppo (ﺣﻠﺐ‎) the largest city
in Syria home to some 2,132,100 people.

Nick Paton Walsh, 'You thought Syria couldn't get much worse. Think again', CNN February 5, 2016

Natalie Nougayrède, 'What happens next in Aleppo will shape Europe’s future', the Guardian Friday 5 February 2016

If Aleppo falls, Syria’s vicious war will take a whole new turn, one with far-reaching consequences not just for the region but for Europe too. The latest government assault on the besieged northern Syrian city, which has caused tens of thousands more people to flee in recent days, is also a defining moment for relations between the west and Russia, whose airforce is playing a key role. The defeat of anti-Assad rebels who have partially controlled the city since 2012 would leave nothing on the ground in Syria but Assad’s regime and Islamic State. And all hope of a negotiated settlement involving the Syrian opposition will vanish. [...] The aftershocks will be felt far and wide. If there is one thing Europeans have learned in 2015, it is that they cannot be shielded from the effects of conflict in the Middle East. [...] The refugee crisis has sowed deep divisions on the continent and it has helped populist rightwing parties flourish ....

Background: Emile Hokayem, 'Obama’s Disastrous Betrayal of the Syrian Rebels How the White House is handing victory to Bashar al-Assad, Russia, and Iran' Foreign Policy February 5, 2016  "The humanitarian crisis is a deliberate regime/Russian strategy to clear important areas of problematic residents"

Current disposition of factions in Syria

Situation around Aleppo