For five years now, after the first Syrian and Iraqi cities fell under full control of the Islamic State, the term “Syraq” has been used to define the geopolitical area straddling the border between Syria and Iraq. In this area, local dynamics and historical tribal links between the two countries had allowed ISIS militiamen to nullify the Syrian-Iraqi border and establish the Caliphate’s transnational control over an area, which, since then, has been hard to consider as belonging to two separate countries. Today, as the Islamic State has been territorially defeated and both Damascus and Baghdad, to a different extent, are initiating a slow process of recovery, why is it still unavoidable to look at Iraq and Syria as interconnected? What security nexus still links them? What are the premises for reconstruction in both countries? In light of the announced US withdraw from Syria and its renewed engagement in Iraq, how will international as well as regional players position themselves on the “Syraqi” chessboard? How will they project their strategic interests in this area?
