Gung Go: US Reckless Actions Jeopardize Situation in Syria

The US lacks a good foreign relations strategy, and resorts instead to reckless and impulsive actions; among other things, this prevents Washington from joining forces with Russia against Daesh, according to Foreign Policy

Instead of developing a well-planned strategy regarding relations with Russia, US policymakers opt for rash or ill-defined decisions "which are often applauded for their apparent decisiveness in the short term, but frequently serve to worsen the situation," the magazine points out.

It goes on to say that despite intense disagreements between the White House and the Kremlin, both countries should cooperate on issues where their interests align.

"Terrorist attacks in France, Lebanon, Mali, and in the skies over Egypt, highlight a common interest among civilized nations to defeat the Islamic State (Daesh)," according to FP.

The magazine points out that even during the Cold War, both the US and the USSR recognized the necessity of reducing the threat of nuclear war and worked together to prevent it. Also, even despite the disagreements over the situation in Ukraine, both the US and Russia successfully cooperated when working out a deal with Iran regarding the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.

On the other hand, the US continues to stubbornly oppose the UNSC resolutions proposed by Russia which emphasize Bashar Assad’s role in ending the conflict in Syria.

"This is foolish, since working with Assad, at least in the short term, provides a more realistic roadmap for mitigating the conflict in Syria and rooting out IS (Daesh)," FP remarks.

Both the US and Russia should exercise restraint and start seeking compromise with each other to reduce tension in the relations between the two countries, according to the magazine.