It remains to be seen if ISIS will provide Washington with an opportunity to recover its strategy and reputation over Syria

One year ago, the Obama Administration came within a hair’s breadth of bombing the forces of Bashar al-Assad in Syria after evidence came to light that his forces had used chemical weapons against civilians. Now, the US, with the help of allies in the Gulf, is bombing ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. Jasmine Gani argues that US policy on Syria has changed because its goals now centre on counter-terrorism, rather than regime change. She warns that the strikes may be working in Assad’s favour, and that they may also act to further fragment the opposition to the Syrian regime.