سوريا

Resuming direct U.S. material support for anti-Assad forces offers the only serious prospect, even if modest, for halting Syria's downward slide and its damage to U.S. interests.

There are few takers for Hezbollah's contorted logic that the Syrian rebellion is an American or Israeli scheme, so the group may eventually feel the need to rejuvenate its "resistance" credentials by confronting Israel directly.

As the fighting in Syria continues with no signs of decisive victory on the horizon, the Assad regime may decide to abandon parts of the country entirely and form a statelet in the western governorates that remain largely under its control. Such an entity could include as much as 40

Victory is not assured for the regime, but trends are moving in its favor.

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation offers its latest assessment of how many foreigners are fighting in Syria's civil war, which countries they hail from, and other key data.

The Syrian refugee crisis may force Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Iran to reevaluate their approach to Bashar al-Assad's war.

Aaron Lund interviews the Institute's Richard Borow Fellow regarding the number, nature, and affiliations of the various foreigners who have joined Syria's conflict on one side or the other.

The United Nations recently announced that international talks will resume in January in an effort to end the bitter and brutal conflict now in its third year. In this video briefing backgrounder to the talks, Washington Institute Syria expert Andrew J. Tabler addresses five key questions about the conflict in

Given the complexities and dynamics of the Syrian conflict, it is distinctly possible that Israel could be drawn into the fighting. Perhaps more important, the risk of spillover will likely extend years into the future, since the war's aftermath will not include near-term peace between Syria and Israel. How can