As ISIS Wanes, New Wars Threaten to Emerge in Syria

Kurds See War With Turkey as Inevitable

In several countries in the Middle East, it seems that one war ends just in time for the next one to begin. In Iraq, most expect the ISIS war to give way to a fight over Kurdish secession. In Syria, with ISIS starting to lose ground, the next round of wars is already starting to take shape.

Of course in Syria, the ISIS war is itself only part of a broader, more complicated war, and fighting between rebel factions and the government will likely continue beyond ISIS having territory. That doesn’t mean more wars won’t break out, however.

The Syrian Kurds certainly see it coming. On the one hand, many YPG are accusing Turkey of plotting to attack them in Afrin, but on the other hand, one YPG commander is openly threatening to invade Turkish-held territory Either way, US efforts to keep the YPG and Turkey from fighting seem likely to fail eventually.

Meanwhile, the US seems to be gearing up for its own new war in Syria, building up its forces in the country’s southeast with an express eye on fighting the Syrian government and the Shi’ite militias that back them. It’s unclear how the US imagines they can get into this war without getting Russia involved too,  which could quickly make this a region, if not world-wide, war.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.