From the article:

"“Syria,” for instance, is no longer a country; it’s only a region. It’s become at least three or four different countries since the US fomented the civil war in 2011.

"The same is true of “Libya,” which is now two separate countries, although nobody mentions that. There’s no reason why they should reunite.

"Lebanon seems like one country, but Hezbollah runs substantial parts of the country, and the official government runs others. Not to mention numerous religious and ethnic groups that are all at each other’s throats. It’s not a real country anymore, although, at one time, it was the only Christian country in the Middle East. That’s changed—permanently.

"You can be certain that Iraq is going to break up into at least three countries—a Shiite, a Sunni, and a Kurdish part. “Iraq” didn’t exist before 1920."

–Doug Casey