Turkey and HTS: A New Era of Extremism in Syria?
Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2023, Syria is now controlled by an alliance of opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). While there has...
Free Syrian Army
Iran-Backed Militias Face Crisis After Assad’s Fall in Syria
Four years ago, in January 2020, a US drone carried out a strike in Iraq near Baghdad International Airport, killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force leader Qasem...
Op-eds
Profiles of the new Syrian military leadership, part 2
Beginning on Friday, January 3, the newly appointed minister of defense of the Syrian Interim Government, Murhef Abu Qasra, initiated a series of meetings with leaders of armed factions to discuss integrating...
Op-eds
Profiles of new Syrian military leadership
On December 21, Abu Mohammad Jolani, also known as Ahmad al Sharaa, convened a meeting with numerous leaders of Syrian armed factions and local figures to discuss plans for unifying these militias into...
Op-eds
Syria Is At A Crossroads. What’s At Stake Now?
Can the new government stabilize the country? Additionally, can Washington make sure it doesn’t miss an opportunity to leverage a decade of work with the Kurds and other partners?
Op-eds
Who will form the core of Jolani’s unified army?
Ahmad al Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al Jolani, has unveiled a vision for post-Assad Syria. With HTS assuming control in the aftermath...
Op-eds
Southern Syria’s resurgence brings Jordan and Iraq back in key roles
Jordan seeks to ensure regional security and stability, including in Syria, including by involving the international community in these prospects.
Op-eds
Who liberated Damascus? Unpacking the Southern Operations Room’s emergence
The Southern Operations Room (SOR), a coalition of opposition groups, was announced on December 6, 2024. In its inaugural statement, the SOR called on the international community to...
Op-eds
Russia’s Putin looks to import Syrian mercenaries to do the ‘dirty tricks’ against Ukraine’s population
Putin launches recruitment operation of Syrian armed forces
Op-eds
Why Assad crossed Obama’s red line
He calculated, correctly, that he could commit war crimes with impunity
Op-eds
Will COVID-19 Restrain Erdoğan’s Syria Ambitions?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ambitions in Syria have resulted in a two-pronged intervention, as Ankara targets the Bashar al-Assad regime in the war-torn country’s northwest and the Kurdish-led...
Op-eds
Turkish Voters – and Putin – Will Restrain Erdogan’s Libya Ambitions
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to turn the tide of the civil war in Libya, but the pushback from the Turkish electorate – and Russian President Vladimir Putin – is likely to restrain his...
Op-eds
Syrian opposition leaders deliver message to Trump administration, Congress
Members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) left Washington, D.C., last night following several days of meetings with a White House official, members of Congress and State Department officials. Their m...
Op-eds
Perfect Partners
When he won the election, Donald Trump—along with his national security adviser Michael Flynn, his all-purpose counselor Stephen Bannon, and, perhaps, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner—wa...
Op-eds
Trump Got This One Right
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump was shown a disturbing video of Syrian rebels beheading a child near the city of Aleppo. It had caused a minor stir in the press as the fighters belonged...
Op-eds
Obama’s Syria Policy Striptease
America’s settled policy of standing by while half a million Syrians have been killed, millions have become refugees, and large swaths of their country have been re...
Op-eds
Hezbollah’s Growing Threat Against U.S. National Security Interests in the Middle East
Download the full testimony here. ...
Congressional Testimonies
The CIA’s Syria Program and the Perils of Proxies
Almost every aspect of the Obama administration’s policy toward Syria has been scrutinized, lambasted or praised in recent months, but one of the most significant facets, the CIA’s co...
Op-eds
Can the Pentagon Still Save the U.S. from Obama’s ISIS Failure?
It's about time. More than three weeks after the massacres in Paris, four days after the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11, and only after he’d completed a foreign jau...
Op-eds
Syria’s Rebels, Regime Allies Gear Up for Fight
Rebel groups in Syria are gearing up for a longer, bloodier battle to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because of Russian airstrikes that they say have been designed to drive them back. ...