Toward a New U.S. Policy in Syria Ground Zero for Countering Iran and Deterring an Islamic State Revival

Jul 10, 2018
President Donald Trump speaks about Syria
About the Authors
Katherine Bauer
Katherine Bauer

Katherine Bauer is an Adjunct Fellow at The Washington Institute and a former official at the U.S. Treasury Department.

Soner Cagaptay
Soner Cagaptay

Soner Cagaptay is the Beyer Family Senior Fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute.

Patrick Clawson
Patrick Clawson

Patrick Clawson is the Morningstar Senior Fellow and Research Counselor at The Washington Institute.

Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Eisenstadt

Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program.

Ambassador James Jeffrey
James Jeffrey

Ambassador is a former U.S. special representative for Syria engagement and former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Iraq; from 2013-2018 he was the Philip Solondz Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute. He currently chairs the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program.

Barbara Leaf
Barbara A. Leaf

Ambassador Barbara A. Leaf was the Ruth and Sid Lapidus Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Geduld Program on Arab Politics from 2018-2021.

Matthew Levitt
Matthew Levitt

Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow and director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.

Ambassador Dennis Ross
Dennis Ross

Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute.

Robert Satloff - source: The Washington Institute
Robert Satloff

Robert Satloff is the Segal Executive Director of The Washington Institute, a post he assumed in January 1993.

In-Depth Reports

Today, Syria is the sole battlefield in the world where American, Russian, Turkish, Iranian, and Israeli military forces all operate, along with a kaleidoscope of proxy actors foreign and domestic. As the preeminent arena of strategic competition in the Middle East and a wellspring of potential Islamic State resurgence, Syria matters a great deal for a host of U.S. interests. The question is whether U.S. withdrawal is the best way to safeguard those interests.

In this special report, a working group of Washington Institute fellows outlines an alternative approach. Rather than abandoning U.S. allies and exacerbating regional perceptions of U.S. retreat, they show how the Trump administration can couple a no-fly/no-drive zone and a small residual ground presence in the northeast with intensified sanctions against the Assad regime’s Iranian patron. In doing so, Washington can support local efforts to stabilize the area, encourage Gulf partners to “put skin in the game,” drive a wedge between Moscow and Tehran, and help Israel avoid all-out war.

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