[ad_1]
BEIRUT – The Middle East may have turned a page with the defeat of the Islamic State group in its self-declared capital of Raqqa, but the future is looking even more tangled, and potentially as violent.
The downfall of a common enemy could open up cracks in temporary alliances created to fight the extremists, and rivalries for influence are now likely to take center stage.
Already, a multitude of players in the crowded theaters of Iraq and Syria are racing for the spoils of war. And while the group fights its last battles in what remains of its self-styled caliphate, world powers and smaller players alike are vying to create new facts on the ground.
SYRIAN ARMY AND ALLIES
With the pivotal capture of east Aleppo in late 2016, President Bashar Assad’s government effectively neutralized its most threatening armed opposition, allowing it to train its full attention on IS.
The priority was oil-rich eastern Syria, close to the Iraqi border, and with the backing of Russia and Iranian-sponsored Shiite militias,…
[ad_2]
Read-Full-Article
