Publication

This paper first examines the UN’s role in Syria and whether it has applied the lessons it ideally learned from previous conflicts. The text’s author then argues that the Trump administration may be ready to let Bashar al-Assad consolidate his power in the urbanized portion of Western Syria and then push the UN to mediate in the conflict with only a small number of opposition groups involved. Ultimately, such steps would legitimize the government in Damascus anew or mark the end of the civil war altogether.