US President Donald Trump recently proposed that Syria intervene militarily against Hizballah in Lebanon. Is that a good idea? This episode of Middle East Focus features a recent MEI Virtual Briefing. Director of Communications Zeina Al-Shaib is joined by Ambassador David Hale, MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow and Charles Lister, MEI Senior Fellow. Together they examine the prospects and implications of renewed Syrian involvement in Lebanon, the potential impact on US relations with both countries, and how evolving dynamics in Lebanon and Syria could reshape the regional balance of power and affect countries such as Turkey and Israel.
ISIS appears to have collapsed in Syria in the wake of the SDF’s military defeat and subsequent integration, followed by the withdrawal of US troops. To the extent that the US prioritizes the group’s enduring defeat in the country, a relationship centered in Damascus is the best way to achieve it.
MEI’s Syria Initiative seeks to provide insightful and grounded research and analysis on all things Syria in order to better inform a wide range of audiences and to help sustain and shape a more meaningful policy-oriented discussion.
The Middle East Institute, The Atlantic Council, and European Institute of Peace collaborate with subject matter experts and policymakers in the US, Europe, and the Middle East to develop a holistic strategy to sustainably forge a pathway to resolving Syria’s crisis.
Amid dust storms and drought, Turkey and Iran are at odds over transboundary water management
Water is slowly emerging as yet another potential cause for dispute between Ankara and Tehran. As of late, the two neighboring states have been at loggerheads over a number of issues, including Syria and Iraq, where they have opposing interests. After years of quiet diplomatic juggling, the issue of transboundary water management is gradually taking center stage in the two countries’ relations, a development that could, in the medium run, have serious repercussions for regional security.
Syria’s eastern factions unite in the Liberation and Construction Movement: A conversation with the leadership
Following a series of reshuffles within the Syrian National Army (SNA), a Turkey-supported alliance of armed opposition groups in northern Syria, four armed groups with roots in Syria’s eastern provinces, Ahrar al-Sharqiya, Jaish al-Sharqiya, the 20th Division, and Suqur al-Sham’s eastern affiliate, announced the formation of the Liberation and Construction Movement (LCM) on Feb. 15, 2022. On April 25, 2022, the author held a four-hour conversation with the LCM’s leadership to discuss its genesis and ambitions, the issue of human rights violations, and the alleged incorporation of former ISIS members. In addition to providing the LCM’s perspectives on the Syrian conflict and its own role as a military, political, and societal actor, this conversation serves as a useful starting point for reflecting on the politics of humanitarian aid and predominant Western approaches to dealing with conflict parties such as the LCM.
We cannot ignore Syria’s emergence as a narco-state
Syria has emerged in recent years as a narco-state of regional and possibly global significance. Having destroyed much of the country, crippled the national economy, and reduced itself to pariah status, Syria’s regime and core components of its security apparatus have fronted a secretive industrial complex for the manufacture of a popular amphetamine known as Captagon.
Bringing loyalist and opposition factions together: The prospects for reconciliation in new Syria
Western visions for a post-war Syria often entail the creation of disarmament and reintegration programs oriented toward members of Islamist groups and militias. However, there is less discussion about how the legacies of state authoritarianism in regime-controlled or otherwise loyalist areas will likely hinder any type of post-war reconciliation.
Divided Syria: An examination of stabilization efforts and prospects for state continuity
The war in Syria started with a ferocious regime crackdown on nonviolent demonstrations but transformed rapidly into a hydra-headed conflict. Syrian citizens with Gulf support took up arms to defend themselves, extremists rushed in, Iran and its proxies upped the ante, and moderate and extremist opposition forces fought both with each other and regime.
Last month, members of Congress called on the Biden administration to address the eight-year-long humanitarian crisis at Rukban, a desolate informal displacement camp in the eastern Syria desert, just miles from the U.S.-led coalition base at the al-Tanf garrison (ATG). Since 2015, Syria, Jordan, Russia, and the United States have refrained from claiming responsibility for the camp, resulting in a protracted period of inaction with severe humanitarian consequences.
Putin in Palmyra: How Russia won the “truth” battle in Syria and learned lessons for Ukraine
Syria provided Putin with the perfect training ground for Ukraine. Russia is now using the same techniques that it first employed in Syria in its reporting of the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
«داعش» يتعافى في سوريا… لكن الحاجة ماسة إلى الاستقرار
عندما لقي تنظيم داعش الإقليمي الهزيمة في سوريا قبل أكثر من ثلاث سنوات، احتفل العالم بإنجاز تاريخي. فعلى مدار خمس سنوات، حشد تحالف ضم أكثر من 80 دولة موارده المشتركة لدحر «داعش» في سوريا والعراق، والتصدي للجماعة الإرهابية على الإنترنت، ودحر شبكاتها المالية والشركات التابعة لها المكتشفة حديثاً في جميع أنحاء العالم.
What can the Syrian civil war tell us about the war in Ukraine?
The conflict in Syria may reveal what is likely to unfold as the war in Ukraine continues. The nature of the conflict, the presence of foreign fighters, and the refugee crisis that came to characterize the Syrian civil war may portend what is to come in Ukraine.
MEI’s Syria Initiative seeks to provide insightful and grounded research and analysis on all things Syria in order to better inform a wide range of audiences and to help sustain and shape a more meaningful policy-oriented discussion. Drawing on the expertise of over a dozen renowned scholars, the Syria Program covers all aspects of Syria and its ongoing crises – from political, economic, legal, social, ethnic and religious dynamics, to conflict, insurgency and terrorism and the country’s history and possible futures.
