What should the United States do to ensure that the civil war in Syria ends? Should more U.S. troops be deployed on Syrian soil to hasten the defeat of the Islamic State? Is it time for U.S. officials to put a greater premium on overthrowing Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, as official U.S. policy calls for?

These are questions the incoming administration will be confronted with as soon as they walk through the White House doors on Jan. 20, 2017. If public sentiment is any indication though, the administration should tread carefully before devoting additional military resources to the conflict.