Pullback and chaos (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: International Relations
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: US withdrawal from Syria

Context

• With the withdrawal of US forces from north-east Syria under Kurdish control, Trump is attempting to fulfill his promise of extricating the US from the conflicts it has been embroiled in across the globe ahead of the 2020 US presidential elections.

What are the regional scene?

• The manner of the troop withdrawal sharpened the conflict in the region.
• It also increased the influence of Russia in West Asia.
• Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan ordered his troops into the region, and there are reports of civilian casualties. US troops had suffered minimal casualties and were a buffer protecting the Kurdish forces.
• Erdogan is facing a violent Kurdish-led in the insurgency in his own country. He is seeking a deeper strategic buffer through military control of Syria’s autonomous Kurdish region.
• Russia and Iran are expected to back the Assad regime, filling the power vacuum left by the US.
• Erdogan seems undeterred by the threats of sanctions and other diplomatic consequences by the US and NATO.

Impact of the withdrawal

• Trump’s sudden withdrawal is likely to be counterproductive.
• The claim that the “ISIS caliphate” has been defeated may be technically true, but many IS fighters retreated into remote parts of Iraq and Syria.
• Since the conflict in Syria began in 2015, the Kurds were instrumental in the fight against the Islamic State. Now, remnants of the IS may be emboldened.
• Assad regime has consolidated and its influence is growing along with that of Russia.
• An aggressive and expansionist Turkey could pose a long-term challenge to the regional balance of power. It has long been a NATO ally and even houses a US military base with nuclear capabilities.

Way ahead

• In the near term, what is required is well-thought-out, firm diplomacy by the US and other world powers, that goes far beyond what President Trump’s tweets have hinted at.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Which of the following best describes the equation between rights and obligations?
(a) Citizens can only have rights, while state can have both rights and obligations.
(b) To not violate any right of a citizen is solely the obligation of his/her fellow citizens.
(c) Rights not only place obligations on the state, but also on every citizen.
(d) Only those rights of the citizens which have environmental aspects place obligations on them.

Ans: C
Mains Questions:
Q.1) US withdrawal from Kurdish Syria, the manner in which it has been done, augurs more instability in the region. Analyse.