Syria

Washington’s best bet is to negotiate a withdrawal of its own forces, which would leave Russia to manage the costs of the seven-year-old Syrian war.

Turkey’s cross-border intervention demonstrates that the war’s main external actors are strategically adrift and potentially unable to realize their own goals...

Although particularly complex, the Syrian civil war is an example of a general trend: civil wars are lasting longer and are increasingly likely to end with a one...

With its ability to control the Assad regime already in question, Russia now appears to be facing issues restraining even its own mercenary contractors.

Now that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s victory over the remaining elements of the antiregime opposition looks inevitable, how will Washington manage that...

U.S. policy needs to change quickly to meet the evolving threat, both in terms of its operations in the region and of its counterterrorism priorities at home.

The victory over ISIS is incomplete: the group could resurrect its caliphate where it was born, in Iraq and Syria.

Russia will be as involved in the Syrian peace as it was involved in the Syrian war.

As Israel becomes increasingly assertive in Syria, it might find an unlikely partner in Russia.

In the years after 2014, ultra-radicals within ISIS began to condemn their leaders and fellow militants—and were hunted down in response.

The IRGC wishes not only to secure Iranian influence in post-war Syria, but also to transform its allied Syrian militias into an institutionalized military...

Russia’s record suggests it will never be an honest broker or reliable partner for the West in combating terrorism.

Any U.S. policy toward the Kurds must contemplate the wide-ranging implications of Kurdish autonomy rather than simply viewing the group as an instrument in the...

The story of how Syria’s failing regime rebounded to win the war isn’t just about who supported Assad. It’s also about the coalition, the Friends of Syria, that...

There are of course some worthy allies among the Syrian rebels, but not nearly as many as Western regime-change enthusiasts have spent the past few years claiming.<...>

Al Qaeda is seeking to cultivate an image as a relatively moderate jihadist group.

Much of what is known about ISIS’ educational system is based on the group’s own propaganda, but there is a significant gap between the group’s virtual world and...

Syria’s reconstruction cannot be dictated or meaningfully shaped by Western donors—at least not to any satisfactory political ends.

With ISIS’ defeat in Syria looming and Assad’s regime likely to regain the entire country before long, the United States should recognize the limits of its...

ISIS is transforming from an insurgent organization with a fixed headquarters to a clandestine global terrorist network.