Contrary to popular opinion, the United States and its local partners can benefit from a U.S. withdrawal from Syria. Both have strong incentives to support this policy as alternative options will produce worse outcomes down the road. Washington should consider a complete drawdown of troops in Syria to ensure its security interests in West Asia.
Attention has shifted from Syria and the 2010-11 Arab Spring, but Washington has prolonged the deployment of troops due to inertia rather than the pursuit of a legitimate U.S. security interest. Most importantly, ISIS was territorially defeated in 2019, now forced to operate through small, disorganized sleeper cells in remote regions of Syria and Iraq. The remnants of the group do not pose a threat to U.S. interests, per the U.S. Department of Defense, rendering arguments for an ongoing, uninvited presence obsolete.
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