“The five-day period of the [cease-fire] agreement did include clashes, which U.S. officials downplayed, but it also stanched a chaotic period following President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was pulling American forces out of Syria, in which scores were killed and thousands were displaced,” Kathy Gilsinan writes for the Atlantic.
 
“It is also not clear that Turkey’s leaders have grappled with the consequences of their difficult relations with other regional powers and what may become a long occupation of Syria. The Egyptians, Saudis, Emiratis, and Israelis all have the capacity alone or together to support [Kurdish-led forces] in an effort to make Operation Peace Spring costly for Erdogan,” CFR’s Steven A. Cook writes for Foreign Policy.
 
This CFR explainer traces Syria’s descent into civil war.