The six-year civil war in Syria has become the center of President Obama’s foreign policy in the Middle East and with news about the latest agreement with Russia, during his last year in office; many are wondering what that war is going to look like for the next presidency to come.
To start with Donald Trump’s actions in Syria; his consistent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin hints at an administration that would not only create a joint-effort to battle ISIS in the region, but he would also willingly allow the Russians to take the lead.
In general, the tense relationship between the U.S. against a united Turkey and Russia has been a concern for the Obama administration over the handling of Syria, starting with Russia’s involvement in 2015.
Unless Donald Trump were to surprise the American people and do the exact opposite of what he says he would do, it’s likely that Russian support would overwhelm consensus in the United States, creating more of Putin mindset that would perhaps overshadow the view that those countries who are concerned with Russia at their border have — such as those with NATO — which would be a complete reset of relations with an already established international alliance, in favor of Russian interests.
It is in this case that the war in Syria would be fought for Assad’s regime as propped up by Russia, a complete change in direction as the mindset has generally been that Assad would have to go.
But Syria’s President Assad is of the type of leader that Donald Trump is attracted to, as he’s been able to show force and “strength” through a six-year war; civilian casualties and refugees be damned. So it’s easy to say that Donald Trump as president would also play for right-wing governments throughout Europe who have been united in rejecting refugees. Especially refugees coming from Syria.
Concerning a relationship with Turkey, we can see that to Donald Trump, President Erdo?an is also considered a strong man and a Trump administration would not only send Fethullah Gülen back to Turkey all wrapped in a bow, he would also reject the help of the Kurdish fighters that Erdo?an attacks as terrorists and allow them to be vulnerable to attacks from those Turkish forces, perhaps even breaking up the U.S.-led coalition in order to deploy military troops to unite with Russian forces into another war and complicit in propping up the Assad regime further securing the reign of Alawites.
The Disgraced and Little-Known Generals Backing Donald Trump https://t.co/VCWfAF2dDl via @thedailybeast
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Donald Trump has already said that he would get rid of generals in the military, so that would mean essentially taking it over to have a more hands-on approach where he would mimic those strongmen he sees from other countries. Which would bring back the military might that Republicans have feared America has lost, which they also claim is what made America great.
But Syria is as much a good place to start to see what kind of administration a Trump White House would look like, at the very least if not 6-months into his presidency, it would be one of the main strengths he would want to establish during his first term.
As for the traditional Republican Party that claims to oppose Donald Trump, the Freedom Caucus types of conservatives who are at the influential center of the obstruction of a Republican-led Congress, would overwhelm the traditional party politician and media, and party power types would become nationalists who are condoned and manufactured by the conservative Breitbart News site, the Alt-Right movement which has been at the helm of attacking liberals at every level.
The issues in Syria are what appear to be driving the message against terrorism, and Donald Trump has also made no secret of his rejection of immigrants, with no problems in rejecting Syrian refugees. If he were to take the information he’s been given by his foreign policy advisers about create safe zones for Syrian refugees in Syria, then judging from his military action there, he would only restore Assad’s reign and send the refugees back to live under the strongman Donald Trump so admires.
[Photo by Alex Brandon/AP Images]