06NOV2017 – Situation
Monday, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis stated that he would back diplomatic efforts in order to end the Syrian civil war; a conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands over nearly a seven year period.[1] This announcement comes as the US and its partners look beyond the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.[2]
According to intelligence reports cited by Mattis, “the whole bottom of IS is dropping out.”[3] As such, a UN backed Geneva effort is underway to end the conflict diplomatically. An effort that runs parallel to similar Russian and Iranian led processes aimed at reaching diplomatic solutions to the Syrian conflict.[4] Mattis stated: “Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson engaged strongly with [U.N. Special Envoy for Syria] Staffan de Mistura about how do we move what has been going on in [Russian-supported Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan’s capital city of] Astana over to Geneva where we can actually get the U.N. engaged on the way forward.”[5]
Why is this important?
The chaos caused by the Syrian civil war as well as IS, has left a significant power vacuum. This vacuum has afforded an opportunity for various states such as: Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, Israel, and United States to step in and exercises certain levels of influence within Syria. The varying degrees of influence has caused the conflict to morph away from the original local/regional struggle into a larger US-Russia proxy war, encompassing various state and non-state actors. Therefore, with the looming defeat of IS, an entity that has largely served as a buffer between the two geopolitical giants, the importance of a diplomatic end to the conflict has become even more apparent.
Sources:
[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-usa-syria/mattis-backs-geneva-process-on-syrian-conflict-idUSKBN1D61AW
[2] http://www.france24.com/en/20171106-mattis-looks-diplomacy-crumbles-syria
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] http://theweek.com/speedreads/735592/mattis-backs-diplomacy-end-6-years-fighting-syria