I'm glad you brought up Afghanistan...
A place where money lost!
A propped up regime folded like it never existed.
Bags of "money" rot away in caves. The existing opposition lost all legitimacy to a point where none real opposition exists.
Which provides us with a bit of litmus test... unlike Maslow's hierarchy.
Hmm
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety". Ben Franklin
In comes Syria,
Did the outgoing regime held enough attachment or nostalgia to force a comeback?
If the current regime is sold, will it hold any legitimacy in coming weeks and months? So can they seriously cede territory and make good with zion? At some point there would remain any difference between the outgoing and the incoming.