For US policy on Syria, this year’s election is largely a choice between a continued status quo under Vice President Kamala Harris and a return to the unpredictable foreign policy of former President Donald Trump.
Syrian-Turkish normalization would be a worst-case scenario for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which has called rapprochement a “great conspiracy” against the Syrian people.
While Ankara condemns anti-refugee riots and makes arrests in the wake of “the most violent wave of hatred” to date, Syrians in Turkey say the attacks indirectly serve the government’s goal of refugee returns as it signals normalization with Assad.
France’s international arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad for complicity in crimes against humanity marks a historic first. What does it mean in practice, and what are its implications for seemingly unstoppable regional normalization?
The issue of human rights is one card the Syrian opposition can play to obstruct moves towards normalization with Assad, but the end scenarios may not be in its favor, with a “piecemeal” political settlement not in accordance with Resolution 2254.
