BEIRUT (AP) — In a lavish ceremony, a smiling and confident President Bashar Assad was sworn in for a third seven-year term on Wednesday, praising his supporters for “defeating the dirty war” and denouncing insurgents who have “failed in trying to brainwash you or break your will.”

As he declared victory, the Western-backed push to topple him or reach a political deal seem increasingly elusive. And while new conflicts in the region have grabbed attention, Syria’s 3-year-old civil war is grinding on without reprieve, with 170,000 dead and a third of the country displaced.