By Emile Hokayem, IISS Senior Fellow for Middle East Security.

What are the West’s military options – and what might the targets be?

Western countries have to decide whether military action in Syria is about punishment and deterrence for the use of chemical weapons, or whether they want to be more ambitious and go after the military infrastructure of the Assad regime, which has enabled his war machine to make very significant advances recently.

The likelihood is that President Trump, Prime Minister May and President Macron will opt for a narrow strike aimed at enforcing the international norm against the use of chemical weapons. If so, they face a choice between targeting the infrastructure that creates those weapons and hitting the means of delivery – the helicopters, the air force, the runways. Tiếp tục đọc “Western strikes in Syria – five key questions” →