Competing interests and rivalries between regional powers threaten hopes of change after the fall of Bashar al-Assad

Previously undisclosed Pentagon plans for withdrawing 2,000 US troops from eastern Syria received scant attention last week, overshadowed by Donald Trump’s surreal Gaza pantomime. The troops help local Syrian Kurdish forces contain the residual threat posed by Islamic State jihadists, 9,000 of whom are held in prison camps. If the US leaves, the fear is of a mass breakout and, over time, a reviving IS terrorist threat to Europe, Britain and the west.

The mooted American pullout is one piece in a complex Syrian jigsaw puzzle that is challenging friends and foes alike following December’s toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship. Unlike Trump, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states – competing for influence – want to get more involved in Syria, not less. Europe wants a stable, democratic state to which refugees can safely return. Israel, aggressively paranoid, sees only potential threats, while vanquished Russia and Iran seek to regain a foothold.

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