School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Christopher Phillips, Trump’s strike is more of the same in Syria

7 April 2017

Dr Christopher Phillips writes for The Washington Post in the Analysis section about President Trump’s missile strike in Syria in comparison to Obama’s approach to the conflict. US policy has been reactive rather than strategic since Syria’s uprising began in 2011. Obama used more cautious rhetoric about Syria in his final years in office. Trump may have to learn the same lesson. Dr Phillips suggests: “Like Obama, Trump will find that such actions are rarely interpreted as merely symbolic. Assad’s opponents will be buoyed by the prospect of a US president finally willing to deploy force against the regime.”
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