Dilemma for Joe Biden in dying days of his presidency

As they sweep across northern Syria, the advancing rebels are posing fundamental questions not just for the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but for watching neighbours and Western leaders.

The civil war of 2011 to 2016 pitted Iran and Russia, on Assad’s side, against the US and Turkey, who both weighed in behind the efforts to overthrow the Syrian dictator.

Ankara and Washington have diverging interests: Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to secure his country’s border with Syria, and eventually return hundreds of thousands of refugees. The US initially sought to back the rebels against the brutality of Assad, but has left a rump military force in the nation to clamp down on any resurgence of the Islamic State.

Continue Reading in The Telegraph

Photo credit: AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click here.