Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof writes for the Daily Star on what choices the United States faces regarding its foreign policy strategy in Syria:
The complexity of Syria’s ongoing crisis and confusion over what to do about it should not obscure the choice facing the United States, its allies and its partners.
Washington can either accede to an Iranian-orchestrated military victory for Bashar Assad’s regime in western and to the rise of Al-Qaeda-affiliated gangs elsewhere, or help Syrians undo that victory, neutralize and shape Syria’s political future. The illusory option of seeking a negotiated political compromise died in January in Geneva. It died precisely because the Syrian regime believed it had prevailed militarily thanks to and Russia. For diplomacy ever to have a chance that belief must be undone.