Emile Hokayem is the Senior Fellow for Middle East Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He specialises in political and conflict analysis, including the war in Syria.
US policy toward Syria has been debilitated by an irresolvable conundrum. Empirical research suggests most civil wars are concluded by military victories, not political settlements. Yet in the war between the murderous regime of Bashar Assad—backed by Russia and Iran—and fractured Islamist rebels, the United States does not want either side to prevail.
