The Arab Spring at Five

The civil war in Syria will soon enter its fifth year, with no end in sight. On January 20, Foreign Affairs managing editor Jonathan Tepperman met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to discuss the conflict in this exclusive interview.

Syria Aug 11, 2015 Snapshot

The New Great Game

As most of the world has stood by and watched Syria’s disintegration, regional powers have been busy claiming spheres of influence in the country in the name of...

Andrew J. Tabler

A picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is displayed on a damaged structure at the entrance of al-Dukhaneya neighbourhood near Damascus, October 7, 2014.

Syria Nov 4, 2015 Snapshot

The Not-So-Great Game in Syria

Before the Russian intervention, Syria seemed to be turning into Bosnia or Somalia. Now, it could well become another Afghanistan.

Andrew J. Tabler

Jordan Sep 28, 2015 Snapshot

Syria's Good Neighbors

Since the start of the civil war in 2011, nearly four million Syrians have fled their country. To be sure, the number of refugees arriving in Europe is staggering, but...

David Schenker

Refugees & Migration Oct 5, 2015 Snapshot

No (Gulf) Country for Syrian Refugees

The Gulf political-economic model is fundamentally incompatable with the category of refugee. That the Gulf states, despite their vast wealth and resources, have not...

Michael Ewers and Justin Gengler

A Syrian refugee girl stands behind a door at a makeshift settlement in the village of Ketermaya, south of Beirut January 8, 2015.

Best of 2015 March/April 2015 Essay

ISIS Is Not a Terrorist Group

The Islamic State, or ISIS, may use terrorism as a tactic, but unlike al Qaeda it is not a terrorist organization. It is a pseudo-state led by a conventional army. The...

Audrey Kurth Cronin

Terrorism & Counterterrorism Jan 10, 2016 Snapshot

ISIS' Social Contract

ISIS is far more dependent on the taxes and cooperation of ordinary civilians than was previously believed.

Mara Revkin

A man walks past a damaged mosque ain Raqqa, eastern Syria, which is controlled by ISIS, November 25, 2014.

ISIS Jan 4, 2016 Snapshot

How to Defeat ISIS

The United States can destroy ISIS through its current policy of air support, train-and-equip programs to build up local allies, and special forces strikes—but only if...

James F. Jeffrey

A Free Syrian Army fighter near Deraa, Syria January 2, 2016.

U.S. Foreign Policy January/February 2016 Essay

Obama's Way

Barack Obama has been besieged by foreign policy crises, constrained by diminished American power, and pressured by opponents at home and allies abroad to take action...

Fred Kaplan

The Decider: Obama and other officials, including John Kerry, Samantha Power, and Benjamin Rhodes, in New York, September 2014.

Best of 2015 November/December 2015 Comment

The End of Pax Americana

Washington is indeed pulling back from the Middle East—not because it doesn’t care or can’t afford to do more, but because policymakers have recognized, correctly,...

Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson

U.S. soldiers leaving Iraq, December 2011. The potential for American military power to effect major change in the Middle East is diminishing.

Best of 2016 March/April 2016 Essay

Fight or Flight

The next U.S. president will face a difficult choice in the Middle East: do much more to stabilize the region’s ongoing conflicts, or disengage altogether. Both...

Kenneth M. Pollack

Houthi fighters patrol the main street of Sadah, Yemen, June 2015. The Saudis have taken the stunning step of directly intervening in Yemen’s civil war.

U.S. Foreign Policy November/December 2015 Comment

Getting  Over Egypt

The time has come for a fundamental change in U.S.-Egyptian relations. “Business as usual” will do nothing to alter Egypt’s negative trajectory and will further bind...

Michael Wahid Hanna

A protester shows his collection of tear gas canisters thrown by police forces during clashes between police and protesters near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, February 3, 2012.

The Arab Spring at Five Feb 7, 2016 Snapshot

The Next Front Against ISIS

Any strategy to tackle ISIS should first aim at bridging Libyan political divides and channeling assistance in a way that promotes cooperation between rival forces.

Frederic Wehrey and Wolfram Lacher

Smoke from an oil fire in Es Sider, in Ras Lanuf, Libya, January 6, 2016. Firefighters have extinguished two fires at oil storage tanks at Libya's Ras Lanuf terminal, but blazes continue at five tanks in the nearby port of Es Sider after attacks this week

The Arab Spring at Five Feb 9, 2016 Snapshot

Algeria After the Arab Spring

Five years after the Arab Spring, Algeria, Africa’s biggest country, has maintained some semblance of stability. But with oil prices falling and Bouteflika in poor...

Yahia H. Zoubir

Algerians chant and dance while holding rifles at the opening of an event at Algiers, June 4, 2006.

The Arab Spring at Five Jan 25, 2016 Snapshot

Ankara's Failure

Among the most optimistic about the Arab Spring were the leaders of Turkey, who saw the upheaval as an opportunity to realize their neo-Ottoman dream of positioning...

Jonathan Schanzer and Merve Tahiroglu

A demonstrator waves Turkey's national flag as he sits on a monument during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AKP in central Ankara, June 2, 2013.

Syria Jan 19, 2016 Snapshot

Assad Has It His Way

President Bashar al-Assad is winning in Syria. Russia has shifted the balance of power there dramatically. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the UN might insist...

Joshua Landis and Steven Simon

Syrian civilians who volunteered to join local Self Protection Units to protect their neighborhoods alongside the Syrian army attend training in Damascus countryside, Syria December 5, 2015. The text on the badges read in Arabic, "the soldiers of al-Assad

Terrorism & Counterterrorism Feb 8, 2016 Snapshot

The Right Way to Think About the Syria Talks

Much of the cynicism about the Geneva talks stems from false expectations about what they can achieve. From the U.S. perspective, the point of the process should not...

Samuel Charap and Jeremy Shapiro

Foreign Affairs Anthology Series

The Arab Spring at Five

A comprehensive look at how 2011 shaped the Middle East.

Table of Contents

Spring

Fall: Tunisia

Fall: Egypt

Fall: Libya

Fall: Syria

Winter

Must-Read Anthologies