ABSTRACT
Due to Syria’s central geographic position in the Middle East and its complex human terrain, the conflict there has local, regional and international drivers. Once the uprising was met by regime repression, Syria fractured along regional, ethnic, confessional and political lines. Its disintegration was fuelled by regional competition and transnational forces, including Salafi-jihadist groups, such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. However, Western governments seem committed to maintaining Assad’s isolation, having concluded that engagement would be detrimental to Syria’s stabilisation and refugee returns given the regime’s lack of reciprocity and positive actions. In the United States, there was a congressional effort to resist normalisation and intensify the sanctions regime against Syria. Turkiye has continued to view Syria as an immediate security problem and has threatened to conduct more interventions against Kurdish forces there due to their links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
