Europe seems to have accepted its sidelining in the Middle East. The EU must reassert its support for the international rules-based order and step up engagement.
Rym Momtaz
{
"authors": [
"Lina Khatib",
"Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi",
"Lawrence Korb"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
"programAffiliation": "MEP",
"programs": [
"Middle East"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"Gulf",
"Levant",
"Syria",
"Middle East"
],
"topics": [
"Political Reform",
"Security",
"Foreign Policy"
]
}Source: Getty
The U.S.-led air strikes threaten to alienate more moderate groups in Syria.
Source: Al Jazeera Inside Story
In the early days of Syria’s civil war, opposition activists and fighters pleaded with the United States to strike the Syrian government. It has now been a week since a U.S..-led coalition began bombing Syria. But they are targeting the Islamic State, not Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Many opposition groups now fear U.S. President Barack Obama is no longer committed to seeing President Bashar al-Assad leave power. And increasingly, armed groups in Syria view the air strikes as against their interests, with some Syrian rebels even vowing to fight Western nations. Will the continuing campaign against ISIL alienate fighters who were previously seeking U.S. backing?
This interview was originally broadcasted on Al Jazeera Inside Story.
Former Director, Middle East Center
Khatib was director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Previously, she was the co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Lawrence Korb
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Europe seems to have accepted its sidelining in the Middle East. The EU must reassert its support for the international rules-based order and step up engagement.
Rym Momtaz
Amid uncertainty caused by the Iran war, the global drive for nonproliferation has stalled. With Europe diplomatically marginalized and countries reassessing their nuclear options, efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons risk becoming irrelevant.
Jane Darby Menton
Between the United States’ market-driven approach and China's state-led industrial strategy, Europe is reckoning with how it can remain competitive in the global economy. But is Europe in danger of becoming a U.S. or China colony?
Noah Barkin, Anu Bradford
Preparing candidate countries for EU membership is no longer enough. As the enlargement process becomes a reality, the union must also prepare its own societies.
Iliriana Gjoni
The full list of humiliations Europe has endured since Donald Trump returned to the White House makes for grim reading. But Washington’s adversarial approach to its allies undermines its own power base.
Rym Momtaz