Erdogan, Trump, Assad and the Imperial Game in Syria

The onslaught of the Kurds is another phase in the dismantling of Syria.

As Turkish troops advance into Syria, Kurdish forces have now called on the Assad government to intervene on their behalf in a desperate attempt to protect themselves from the ethnic cleansing which awaits.

The conflict in Syria has seen alliances shift and balances turn. All regional powers had invested in the conflict, with the Saudi-American-Israeli-Turkish axis hoping to topple the Assad regime, backing all sorts of questionable jihadi groups, spawning the horrors of ISIS (amongst others) and whipping up sectarian fears in attempts to extend their influence in Syria whilst weakening Assad.

On the other side was of course Assad himself — the brutal dictator — who responded to the rumblings of the Arab Spring and the revolution against his dictatorship by barrel-bombing civilian centres of unrest, divide and conquer tactics and the whipping up of sectarian divides that had long been a legacy of colonialism. Hezbollah and Iran fought alongside Assad, whilst the Russians seized the opportunity to tip the balance in favour of their long-time ally who had for so long provided the Russians with their access to the Mediterranean.