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In the aftermath of the Trump administration’s strikes against a Syrian airbase on Thursday night, there is a certain satisfaction in seeing President Bashar Assad pay even a minimal consequence for his murderous actions.

However, while footage of the strikes from U.S. ships is dramatic, the overall impact on the Syrian conflict will likely be small. It essentially amounts to a five-minute strike of 59 missiles that appear to have partially damaged one of many Syrian airbases. Overall it does little to weaken Assad’s capacity to inflict suffering upon his own people.

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While we can expect Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran, to strongly denounce and protest this attack, they will likely recognize its minimal nature, and gamble that so long as they do not over-react in their response, it is a one-off move.

Instead, the overall impact should be understood as political, intentionally or unintentionally sending a series of messages to U.S. allies and rivals.