Backing war-torn country losing leader is delicate (4)
I believe the answer is:
airy
'delicate' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'backing war-torn country losing leader' is the wordplay.
'backing' says the letters should be written backwards.
'war-torn country' becomes 'Syria' (Syrian Civil War).
'losing leader' means to remove the first letter.
'syria' with its initial letter taken away is 'yria'.
'yria' back-to-front is 'AIRY'.
'is' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for airy that I've seen before include "'Up the . . . . mountain / Down the rushy glen' (William Allingham)" , "Light, delicate" , "Spacious - aerial" , "open to the sky" , "(Of ideas) speculative" .)