With Syria’s civil war deepening, the United States and Russia are
trying to arrange a conference to bring about a political settlement
between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and the armed
opposition.
Why have the U.S. and Russia decided to work together? Mona Yacoubian, a
senior analyst at the Stimson Center in Washington, said there are
several reasons.
“The first is this fairly now looks like well-documented use of chemical
weapons, which is something that both the United States and Russia have
indicated in the past as an area of concern,” said Yacoubian. “The
second is the growing prominence of jihadists and extreme elements
inside Syria and the mounting concerns that even after Assad, Syria
could be, really, an arena of jihadist extremism that would threaten
certainly not only those in the region, but beyond – including,
potentially, Russia.”
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