The combination of premature steps would further damage U.S. credibility while giving Iranian proxies and Islamic State remnants free rein in east Syria. On December 19, multiple media sources reported that Washington is preparing for an imminent withdrawal of all U.S. forces in east Syria. The reports followed statements two days earlier by President Recep… Keep reading →
The longstanding cooperation between the two regimes seems to have intensified during Syria’s war, with troubling implications for future missile, chemical, and even nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. North Korea’s decades-old military alliance with the Assad regime is stoking fears inside the Trump administration that Kim Jong-un is not only profiting from Syria’s six-year… Keep reading →
By setting limits on Iranian deployments in southern Syria, Washington could insulate Jordan from problems on the border and encourage Iranian caution in the east, potentially decreasing the likelihood there of a U.S.-Iran clash. If the U.S.-Russia-Jordan ceasefire agreement announced July 7 for southwest Syria holds, it would be an important new development in the… Keep reading →
Erdogan may be willing to give President Trump a free hand in Raqqa, but only if Washington supports Turkish action against the PKK in Sinjar and continues the conversation on Fethullah Gulen. On May 16, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with President Trump in the White House to discuss a variety of interconnected… Keep reading →
The meeting’s main outcomes will probably disappoint ardent supporters and detractors alike, but the parties should not dismiss the potential progress offered by its more modest, concrete recommendations. On January 15, representatives from around seventy countries and international organizations convened in Paris for the second of two international conferences organized under the French “Middle East… Keep reading →
Helping Erdogan take the city could greatly decrease the civilian death toll and preserve U.S.-Turkish cooperation in Syria, but Washington will still need to decide what to do with the Kurds, its other key ally against the Islamic State. Note: Click on images for high-resolution versions. On January 5, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened… Keep reading →
The episode gives Moscow a great excuse to be uncooperative, which it may have planned to be anyway, but providing clearer information could nevertheless help further the coalition’s goals. Note: Click on map for high-resolution version. On September 17, planes from the U.S.-led coalition in Syria attacked a target inside the city of Deir al-Zour,… Keep reading →
Funeral notices indicate that Iran has increased its use of IRGC Ground Forces in Syria to offset mounting losses by the elite Qods Force, and this pattern could signal a wider transformation in how the IRGC operates abroad. On May 6, at least sixteen Iranian nationals and an undisclosed number of Shiite foreign fighters under… Keep reading →
While Washington and its coalition partners have begun to roll back some of the Islamic State’s territorial gains, what more can be done to defeat the group and, until then, protect civilians? On April 5, Matthew Levitt, Naomi Kikoler, and James Jeffrey addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Kikoler is the deputy director… Keep reading →
Strong ground support for moderate rebels would be needed to keep any buffer zone in the northwest from falling under the control of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. Read more articles from the TWI series on Syrian safe zones. In theory, Syria’s Idlib province and the eastern part of Aleppo province could serve as safe zones with… Keep reading →
