Jimmy Carter's 5 Nation Syria Plan Is the Least Bad Option [View all]

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http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2015/11/05/jimmy-carters-5-nation-syria-plan-is-the-least-bad-option

The Least Bad Option in Syria

The U.S. has to swallow some bitter pills, because letting the civil war drag on is even worse.

The war needs to end.

By Karen Alter
Nov. 5, 2015 | 2:30 p.m. EST

The highest priority for America and the world should be to end Syria's civil war now. The best of the bad choices is former President Jimmy Carter's five-nation plan. The Obama administration has listened in part, inviting Iran to join peace talks in Vienna. The next steps will be even more costly, but it is both ethically and strategically imperative that the U.S. negotiate an end to the hostilities.

Carter endorsed the blueprint Iran presented to the United Nations Security Council. Pretty much every civil war ends with some version of Iran's four-step proposal: ceasefire, unity government, constitutional reforms and a supervised election. In crediting Iran with this bland proposal, Carter is implicitly acknowledging that Iran and Russia will get the credit for ending the war, the "unity government" will not involve any real power-sharing, the constitutional reform will be mostly cosmetic and President Bashar Assad's re-election is a foregone conclusion.

Carter envisions Russia and Iran forcing a deal on Assad that is far better than he deserves, while the U.S. forces Saudi Arabia and Turkey to end their support of extremists in the region. The "win" for Russia and Iran, in combination with the American arm-twisting needed to realize Carter's plan, will change the geopolitical future of the region. It may even jeopardize America's longstanding relationship with Saudi Arabia, creating another opportunity for China to expand its arms sales and influence.

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There are three ethical and interest-based reasons to support Carter's plan. First, the flow of refugees from Syria is a destabilizing humanitarian disaster. Half of Syria's population is seeking refuge around the world. Europe cannot absorb Syrian refugees without fomenting a political backlash that will destabilize European and world politics for years to come. We must deal with the refugee crisis at its source.

Next, the Islamic State group openly endorses slavery, genocide and sectarian conflict around the world and for this reason it must be defeated. Ignoring it as it gains strength by practicing its medieval vision of Islam is just plain stupid.

Lastly, the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have already taught us the cost of backing weak, inept governments that pursue their own sectarian strategies. Does the U.S. seriously want to prop up yet another set of questionable allies, this time in Syria?

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Karen J. Alter is professor of political science and law at Northwestern University where she teaches courses on international law and ethics in international affairs.