Syria

Tillerson’s Takes on US Foreign Policy: A Year in Review

Diplomatic negotiations with “no preconditions” will be the US approach to solving the problem of North Korea, while working in concert with friends and allies, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at the Atlantic Council on December 12. “We’re ready to talk any time North Korea would like to talk,” said Tillerson, “and we’re […]

Putin Declares Mission Accomplished

By Frederic C. Hof

The quick visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hmeimim airbase in Syria was all about Russian domestic politics. The first—and Putin hopes last—round of Russian presidential elections is scheduled for March 18, 2018. In his pre-Christmas proclamation of victory over “terrorists” and in preserving Syria as a “sovereign independent state,” Putin reiterated his central, […]

Abrams Tanks and the Banner of Hussein: Syria’s Kurds Nervously Watch Ongoing Events

By Samah Rahbeh

In his book entitled Barzani and the History of the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Masoud Barzani President of Iraqi Kurdistan, wrote that his father Mullah Mustafa once said: “We are willing to become the fifty-first American state if that is what it takes for our cause to succeed.” However, once the 1975 Algiers Agreement between Iran […]

A Future in Question: The Uncertain Fate of Syria’s Opposition Media Activists

By Luna Safwan

Media activists opposed to the Syrian government have documented much of the worst of the war in Syria. However, as President Bashar al-Assad regains control of opposition-held territory, these civilian journalists fear they will have no place in Syria’s future. “It’s not like I did not see this coming. What were we expecting? The government will […]

HTS Continues to Evolve

By Mona Alami

The arrest, this week, of several prominent jihadists in Syria by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a third and possibly final chapter in the group’s coup against its mother organization al-Qaeda, one that was recognized in a harsh statement by the latter’s leader, Aymen Zawahiri. The controversial move is one way for HTS to finalize […]

Setting Priorities: Getting the Cart and Horse in Order on US-Syria Policy

By Seth Hershberger

By mid-November, the United States and allied forces kicked out the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) from Raqqa and the Assad regime retook the ISIS stronghold of Abu Kamal, signaling the decline and shift away from ISIS and back to the ongoing civil war. However, the involvement of the United States in Syria, whose “fight […]