Barbara A. Leaf

January 31, 2025 | Bill Roggio |

US airstrike kills Al Qaeda operative in Syria

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it killed a senior leader of Hurras al Din, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, in an airstrike in Syria on January 30. The strike, which took place less...

January 30, 2025 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Syria appoints new president amid widespread diplomatic engagement efforts

In a move that will have significant implications for Syria and its international relations, Ahmed Sharaa was named the country’s president on January 29. The appointment is expected to provide...

December 23, 2024 | Ahmad Sharawi |

Can Syria’s New Leader Unite Armed Factions Into One Army? 

Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa – who also uses the nom-de-guerre Abu Mohammad al Jolani — has pledged to dissolve existing armed factions and integrate their fighters into a newly formed...

December 22, 2024 | Bill Roggio |

US removes $10 million reward for Hayat Tahrir al Sham leader

The US State Department removed the $10 million reward for Abu Mohammad al Jolani, the Specially Designated Global Terrorist who leads Haytat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which State describes as an Al Qaeda...

September 20, 2023 | |

Syria and China Deepen Ties as Assad Slated to Visit Beijing

Syrian President Bashar Assad will visit Beijing on Thursday, September 21, to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Damascus announced this week. The trip — Assad’s first...

September 15, 2023 | |

Three Years On, Secretary of State Complicates Abraham Accords Expansion

Three years after the Abraham Accords were signed by the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, the White House’s efforts to tie normalization to the...

June 16, 2023 | Jacob Nagel |

Israel must oppose the Iran understandings with all it’s got

The emerging deal with Iran will make it very difficult for Israel to attack alone if it concludes that the time has come.

May 17, 2023 | Clifford D. May |

Bashar al-Assad is back

And the Arab League’s got him

May 9, 2023 | Natalie Ecanow |

Jordan Carries Out Rare Strike in Syria Against the Assad-Backed Narco-Trade

Jordan carried out airstrikes in southern Syria on Monday morning targeting a prominent drug lord and a narcotics factory in nearby Daraa province. Jordanian airstrikes in Syria are extremely rare and...

May 8, 2023 | |

Unrepentant, Unreformed Syrian Regime Returns to Arab League

Twelve years after it suspended Syria for the violent suppression and torture of peaceful protesters, the League of Arab States welcomed Syria back to the fold on May 7, just weeks...

May 4, 2023 | Bill Roggio |

U.S. State Department officials speak at same conference as dangerous Iran-backed Iraqi terrorist

Senior U.S. State Department officials spoke at the same conference as Qais al Khazali, a known Shia terrorist who is responsible for arming, training and forming the deadly Iranian-backed militias that...

May 3, 2023 | |

Iran Intensifies Ties with Syria

Tehran and Damascus signed long-term cooperation agreements related to oil and other sectors on May 3 during a visit to Syria by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The deals marked...

April 26, 2023 | David Adesnik |

Biden is quietly encouraging Assad’s rehabilitation. He should reverse course.

In the first weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency, Secretary of State Antony Blinken committed to “putting human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy.” Before taking office, Blinken...

April 2, 2023 | |

Assad Will Return to Arab League Summit, Courtesy of Saudi Invite

Saudi Arabia, which will host the annual Arab League summit next month, plans to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend the gathering in Riyadh. The pending invitation marks a major reversal in Saudi policy and a milestone for Assad as he seeks diplomatic rehabilitation despite his ongoing atrocities. According to Reuters, which first reported the news, Prince Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, will travel to Damascus in the coming weeks to personally deliver the invitation.

December 13, 2022 | Tony Badran |

The Lebanese are Living the Dream

The Lebanese have long had an ideal vision for how their dysfunctional polity should be run. Their perfect arrangement involves the great power(s) — which in the past meant Europe and Russia but today...

December 13, 2022 | Tony Badran |

America’s Lebanese fantasy hits a road-bump

For the past two years, the Biden administration has been hell-bent on getting Saudi Arabia to underwrite the US project of administering Lebanon. And for two years running, the Kingdom has refused, having...

June 24, 2022 | David Adesnik |

U.S.-Backed Gas Deal Will Benefit Assad Regime

At a ceremony in Beirut, the governments of Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt signed a deal on Tuesday that would bring 650 million cubic meters of Egyptian gas per year to Lebanon via Syria. The Biden administration...

June 17, 2022 | David Adesnik |

Across Party Lines, Senators Tell Biden to Get Tough on Assad

At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, senators from across the political spectrum pressed the Biden administration to isolate Syria’s criminal regime and fully enforce the...