The Arab League’s decision to readmit Syria rewards brutality and betrays victims. It also confirms the marginalization of the United States and the irrelevance of Europe in the region.
Turkey has unfinished business when it comes to fighting Kurdish forces south of its border.
Clashes between Turkey and the PKK have recently intensified. By ramping up confrontation with the Kurdish armed movement in Syria and Iraq, Turkish President Erdogan is likely to improve his chances of reelection in 2023.
In a bid to gain political ground at home, Ankara has launched multiple military operations in Syria. These have laid the groundwork for a more aggressive, nationalist foreign policy with profound implications for relations with the United States, Russia, and the EU.
Humanity’s response to the climate crisis is reproducing the same logic that created it. The history of the Middle East and the Arab Spring foretell our global future: ignore ecological integrity at your peril.
Instead of Europe becoming a serious foreign policy actor, Turkey and the war in Syria are weakening the credibility of both NATO and the EU—while the suffering continues in Idlib.
It’s too late to defeat the Assad regime, but a humanitarian intervention by the EU and NATO could prevent countless deaths and another massive refugee crisis.
