In particular, because the US refuses to lead and Europe is too weak militarily to influence developments in Syria on its own, there is a threat of a de facto European alliance with Putin’s Russia. That would be a grave error, given that any kind of cooperation with Russia wouldn’t contain or end the war in Syria: In fact, there is reason to fear the opposite: Any military cooperation with Assad – which is Putin’s aim and price tag – would drive a large majority of Sunni Muslims into the arms of radical Islamists.