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. ...
Free Syrian Army
Al Nusrah Front, Allies Form New Coalition for Battle in Aleppo
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and allied organizations have formed a new coalition for the battle of Aleppo. The alliance calls itself Ansar al Sharia, a name us...
Op-eds
Iran’s Losses Mount in the Syrian Quagmire
“We must possess Syria. If the chain from Lebanon to here [Tehran] is cut, bad things will happen,” former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a December 24, 2...
Op-eds
Hezbollah commanders killed in suspected Israeli airstrike
Hezbollah announced the death of six of its commanders and fighters, including the son of its slain former military chief Imad Mughniyah, in what is believed to be an Israeli airstrike in souther...
Op-eds
Bordering on Terrorism
FDD Press
Monographs
Sandstorm
The great medieval historian Ibn Khaldun centered his understanding of history on asabiyya, which is perhaps best translated as esprit de corps mixed with the will to power. In his maste...
Op-eds
Is a Buffer Zone on the Israeli-Syrian Border Feasible?
The US air campaign in Syria this past week overshadowed what would have otherwise been big ...
Op-eds
Thank You for Bombing
Washington says its air war on the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Sy...
Op-eds
Don’t Forget About Al Qaeda
President Obama is set to discuss his plan for confronting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in a primetime speech this evening. According to ...
Op-eds
Syria Spillover: The Growing Threat of Terrorism and Sectarianism in the Middle East
Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Corker, and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,it is a...
Legislative Testimonies
American Missiles in Syria
Since the start of the Syrian civil war, the secular-leaning Free Syrian Army has repeatedly called for arm...
Policy Briefs
Syria’s Al Qaeda Gang Wars
Five days of fierce rebel-on-rebel infighting in insurgent-controlled towns in northern Syria, involving al Qaeda groups taking opposing sides, has prompted an intense debate between jihadist rel...
Op-eds
Popular Saudi Cleric Endorses Islamic Front, Calls for Cooperation with al Qaeda
Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, a popular Saudi cleric who has relocated to Syria, has used his highly trafficked social media presence to endorse the ...
Op-eds
Saudi Arabia in Syria: Naughty, Not Nice
Saudi Arabia, over the last year, has gone from being a relatively constructive actor in Syria to fueling a jihadist nightmare in the Levant. Information is just now starting to emerge, but repor...
Policy Briefs
Saudi Clerics Endorse Jihadists in Syria
A group of 72 preachers and religious scholars from Saudi Arabia published a petition yesterday endorsing the Islamic Front in Syria. The Islam...
Policy Briefs
Crisis in Syria: Implications for Homeland Security
Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Thompson and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the potential threats to the U.S. emanating out of Syria. Obviously, the sit...
Legislative Testimonies
’We Believe in God and We Will Win in the End’
GAZIANTEP, Turkey – Scores of displaced refugees outside the small town of Kilis along the Syria-Turkey border discussed in late September their desire to oust President Bashar Assad, Israe...
Op-eds
Syrian Refugees Face an Increasingly Horrific Situation in Turkey
KILIS, Turkey and JARABULUS, Syria — Malek, a 46-year-old Syrian farmer who lives outside the Kilis refugee camp in a litter-infested lot, asked me, “Will our suffering last lon...
Op-eds
Syrian Refugees in Turkish Camps Ask ‘Are We Wild Animals?’
Cars, weighted down with vital supplies, make their way in the opposite direction of streams of refugees, who are desperate to escape the Syrian conflict. This border crossing into the T...
Op-eds
How Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the Tortoise and the Hare of the Middle East
The toppling of Mohammed Morsi in Egypt was a major setback for Qatar. The uber-wealthy Gulf emirate had pumped billions of dollars into Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood government, only to watch...