- Andrew Tabler, Dennis Ross: A Syria policy for Trump
- FPI’s Tzvi Kahn: The Russian mirage in the Middle East
Stephen Blank writes: The idea of a deal with Russia against ISIS makes little sense, especially as ISIS is already reeling without Russia and there is little we can do in Syria until we find an ally who can beat Assad. Since Trump and his team have evinced no sign of being interested in humanitarian considerations, they should think long and hard about realpolitik and realize that Moscow’s open-ended commitment to Assad gives us the possibility of leverage. That is, if we can hold off making a deal with Putin until his Syrian adventure becomes so costly that he wants a deal with us more than we do with him. – Atlantic Council