Why Trump's Syria withdrawal is so dangerous

Editor's note

As soon as reports emerged of a Sunday afternoon phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, officials in the Pentagon scrambled to minimise the damage. Trump’s decision to withdraw some US troops back from the Turkish-Syrian border, effectively allowing Turkey to go ahead with a military incursion into northern Syria, caused widespread alarm. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces who currently control the area, and were a key ally of the US in the battle to defeat Islamic State, called Trump’s move a “stab in the back”.

For Ali Bilgic, it’s a deeply destabilising moment. He writes that the Kurdish region in northern Syria, also known as Rojova, has been one of the most stable in the country throughout the Syrian war. It could find itself under attack on two fronts, by Turkey and by the forces of Bashar al Assad. Still another possibility is that the Kurds could ally with the Assad regime against the “foreign invaders”. Meanwhile, Russia, a staunch ally of Assad, is watching closely.

The Nobel Prizes are being announced this week. We have an explainer on the science that won this year’s prize for physiology or medicine: the discovery of how cells sense oxygen levels. And read about one of the true greats of cosmology, who was yesterday revealed to have shared the prize for physics. Stay tuned for reaction to the other Nobel announcements. And with millions of us suffering from high blood pressure – here’s how to interpret your readings.

Gemma Ware

Global Affairs Editor

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