To Stand Up for the Powerless in Syrian, the Left Must Embrace Complexity

Instead of bringing peace to the region, the Left’s preoccupation with anti-imperialism has turned attention in the Syrian war from Assad’s crimes to a navel-gazing debate on U.S. power.

by Shilpa Jindia

When I sent off my piece three weeks ago for Latterly’s Spring issue on the narrative war around Syria, Trump’s position on the conflict seemed like an embrace of that war’s weary status quo. Bashar Al-Assad was set to stay, a partner in the tacit alliance against ISIS and terrorism struck by the Obama administration. But within forty-ei…