Breaking News Brief: Damascus and the Syrian Kurds Come to Blows

MEI Senior Fellow Charles Lister joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to unpack the latest developments in Syria, as a tenuous cease-fire takes hold after several days of intense fighting between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Their discussion explores the drivers of the conflict, the prospects for a lasting deal that would integrate the SDF into the Syrian military, as well as the role and perspective of key external actors, including the US, Turkey, and Israel.

For more background on the Damascus-SDF conflict, please see Charles’s recent article on the fighting in Aleppo in mid-January here.

Recorded on January 20, 2026.