By Sumit Kr:
Donald Trump is all set to become the 45th president of USA. During his election campaigns, howsoever controversial it may have seemed, one thing was clear that he sought to change the status quo of the foreign policy of USA. He talked of restoring the relations with Russia, which has been vitiated because of the Russian invasion of Crimea and the difference over regime change in Syria. It seems like a good move.
For the Syrian crisis to end, it is inevitable that the two major stakeholders in Syria deliberate and co-ordinate in an amicable environment. The crisis in Syria has been one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War 2 taking a huge toll on life while leaving many severely injured. A number of countries are involved in the crisis in some way or the other without seeking a permanent solution for the matter. Last year, when the two world-powers came together to sit and discuss Syria, it was presumed that they will come out with a pragmatic solution. But,unfortunately nothing has been achieved since then and the number of casualties have only worsened.
ISIS has been nearly ousted from Iraq and their area of influence has been decreased significantly. But as long as an unstable and war-ridden Syria exists, elements like ISIS will have enough opportunity to resurrect itself. Not only Syria, other Middle Eastern countries like Libya and Yemen are also embroiled in bloodshed which is causing harm to the peace and stability of the region. USA is involved in all these problems, either directly or indirectly and the onus is on them to right the wrongs which have been done in these countries. If civil wars in any country is allowed to persist for too long, the uncivil elements get a platform to peddle their devastating ideology to the youth, which in turn aggravates the crisis.
Trump and Putin will have to be on the same page if the problems are to be solved quickly. There could be differences between the two countries on a number of issues, but one thing that unites the two is their vow to fight against extremism. The fight against extremism cannot be just won by arms and weapons, it would also require a concerted and coordinated approach between the P-5 countries. It would require the isolation and sanction on those countries that arm, finance, sponsor and train terrorists. There is no greater threat to the values of humanity and civility than terrorism. Even economies suffers immensely because trade, commerce, production and business are completely jeopardised when a region gets enmeshed in this vicious problem. With power comes responsibility and I assume that Trump would behave responsibly in restoring peace and humanity in the world in general and Middle East in particular.