How do you solve a problem like Syria?

[DC Al Fine]

Assuming I only care about stability, and not getting sent to the Hague for crimes against humanity...

Seize power and become an old school strongman. Build a coalition of Christians, non-Sunni Muslims including Alawites and Kurds. Supplement the coalition with moderate Muslims and army officers interested in power and patronage. Cozy up with whichever of the USA, Russia and China wants to help keep me in power. Accept their money and weapons. Massively persecute Islamists, aggressively attack ISIS and generally be a complete dick to whoever opposes my regime.

I figure if I do the above and throw a ton of oil money at the average Sunni Muslim, I ought to get 20-50 years of relative stability until the patronage network grows so large that the state collapses...

Some personal things on my to do list

1) Steal a significant sum of money from the treasury and keep it in foreign bank accounts
2) Keep a plane running in the presidential palace including everything I need for a comfortable exile
3) Make friends with some random small country so I'll have somewhere to go when my regime collapses