Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab writes for Newsweek on the urgency of both addressing the issue of Assad head on and involving those countries who have committed significant political capital and material resources to shape the Syrian conflict’s outcome:
International talks over Syria’s future are stuck on the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar—the rebels’ main backers—insist on toppling Assad. Russia and Iran, on the other hand, continue to rebuff any demands for their client in Damascus to step down. The U.S. and its Western allies are somewhere in between, wishing that Assad would voluntarily leave, but not committing to his removal from power. It’s time we stop beating around the bush and address the issue of Assad head on. Failure to do so ensures the continuation of the war, with all its consequences: more death, destruction, and migration. The Islamic State militant group (ISIS), whom all sides want to destroy, stands to benefit the most from this outcome.
Despite the countless meetings on Syria between U.S. and Russian officials over the past four years, the most consequential diplomacy that should be happening today is not so much between Washington and Moscow but among nations who have made much stronger investments into Syria’s future and who have committed significant political capital and material resources to shape the conflict’s outcome: Russia and Iran on the one hand, and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar on the other.