Trump’s actions in Syria mean Russia is in control – and it’s unclear what comes next.
President Donald Trump’s surprise withdrawal from Syria – ordered with no forewarning at a time when he faces ever-intensifying political pressure at home – represents a remarkable American retreat from a relatively stable situation it did not have to abandon. Whatever clout the U.S. may have earned in the region, and subsequent ability to create further stability that would benefit Americans, is now gone.
“The U.S. has blown it. Trump has successfully blown it to the benefit of all the others,” says Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at The Atlantic Council.
The question is what comes next.
Kurdish forces who fought alongside the U.S. against the Islamic State group served as an essential bulwark protecting the Washington’s goal of negotiating a peace that would secure its political interests in Syria’s future and in the wider region. But any sense of cooperation the Kurds felt with the U.S. is now dashed. And questions remain about whether the Trump administration can deliver on the terms of a dubious cease-fire agreement with Turkey that Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday in Ankara.
View the complete Paul D. Shinkman on The U.S. News and World Report website here.