And when this happened, it was hoped that a pro-American counter axis, composed of Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel (and maybe Turkey) would resist this pro-Russian axis, allowing the United States to legitimate its Middle Eastern policies.This scenario didn't come into effect as the US couldn't prevail in Iraq and Afghanistan; besides, Turkey's attitude toward this scenario was more than reluctant. Despite the expectations, Turkey didn't help the US occupy Iraq, and it didn't support the idea of isolating Syria from the international system. Because Turkey promptly understood that it would be the country that would suffer more than any other from a new Russian-US Cold War, it did its best to stop such a scenario. Turkey's stance became very meaningful in the context of the new US policy introduced by Barack Obama and his administration. Apparently, Turkey's efforts to “win” Syria were adopted by the new American administration, which is actually implementing diplomatic and economic measures to support this policy.
The Turkey-Syria relationship constitutes the first step of the long process of winning Syria. Turkey's good relations with Russia and Iran offer a supplementary advantage for Turkey when it tries to come closer to Syria, whose relationship with Turkey allows this country to make a smooth transition toward the “Western camp.” But the Turkey-Syria rapprochement is not sufficient to confirm Syria's new place in the global balance of power because Syria's most critical choice will be about Israel and this choice is closely related to the indirect struggle that is going on through Lebanon. Additionally, the United States tries to push this country to negotiate directly with Israel by saying that Damascus should play the mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian talks.
If we add to these facts that Egypt is also seriously working on the Palestinian issue, we can affirm that Syria and Egypt have many reasons to cooperate closely from now on. Besides, we should keep in mind that Syria can also largely contribute to the stability in Iraq. As it's still unsure whether Iraq will preserve its territorial integrity or not, Syria's attitude about Iraqi developments is of crucial importance.
Turkey plays a critical role in every effort concerning Syria's new position in the new global balance of power, and consequently, it plays an important role in determining this country's future. Nevertheless, Syria has many domestic problems and maintains its military relations with its classical allies. For example, Russia has obtained a military base in the Mediterranean thanks to Syria, and in the case of war between Iran and Israel, it's still hard to imagine that Syria will use its influence in Israel's favor.
All these developments offer some kind of explanation for the frequent visits of George Mitchell, who is President Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, to Damascus. It's known that he is working hard to ensure that Syria doesn't make mistakes in case of an armed conflict between Iran and Israel. It appears that Turkey and the US's joint efforts intend to avoid a probable regional madness; that's why, on the one hand, they keep proposing cooperation to Syria through Syrian-Israeli peace talks and, on the other, they pressure Israel by threatening it with isolation.
