US scrambles to shape post-Assad Syria but has to overcome years of disengagement
Live MintWASHINGTON—The unexpectedly rapid downfall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria has turned the country’s future from a back-burner issue to a suddenly high stakes concern for the departing Biden administration—and almost certainly for Donald Trump. That could bring further sweeping changes to a Middle East already in flux, removing a key member of Tehran’s so-called “axis of resistance," the coalition of countries and militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen supported by Tehran to counter the U.S. and Israel. President Biden plans to speak to Middle East leaders as U.S. officials travel to the region in coming days to consult with Syria’s neighbors and a range of Syrian anti-Assad groups, a senior Biden administration official said Sunday. Ending the bloody civil war in Syria, which U.S. officials assumed was largely stalemated given Assad’s backing from Hezbollah, Russia and Iran, hasn’t been a White House priority. While U.S. officials are seeking to fashion a strategy to respond to Assad’s unanticipated downfall, they have moved quickly to prevent Islamic State and other groups from exploiting a potential security vacuum in Syria.