Skip to main content
TWI logo The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
logo
wordmark
Homepage

Main navigation

  • Analysis
  • Experts
  • About
  • Support
  • Maps & Multimedia
Trending:
  • Military and Security
  • Terrorism
  • U.S. Policy
  • North Africa
  • Gulf States
  • Iran

Regions & Countries

  • Egypt
  • Iraq
  • Iran
  • Gulf States
  • Israel
  • Palestinians
  • Lebanon
  • North Africa
  • Turkey
  • Jordan
  • Syria
  • Middle East

Issues

  • Arab and Islamic Politics
  • Democracy and Reform
  • Military and Security
  • U.S. Policy
  • Gulf and Energy Policy
  • Energy and Economics
  • Proliferation
  • Terrorism
  • Arab-Israeli Relations
  • Peace Process
TWI English
TWI Arabic: اللغة العربية TWI Persian: فارسی Fikra Forum

Breadcrumb

  • Policy Analysis

Syria

Policy Analysis on Syria

Filter by:

Syrian flag over a ruined building destroyed by bombing
Video
Brief Analysis
The Struggle for Peace in Syria: A Decade of Decisionmaking
Join us for a live webcast starting at 12 noon EST on Friday, March 5, 2021, as American and Syrian policymakers examine what lessons Syria's decade of conflict hold for the Biden administration.
Friday, March 5, 2021, starting at 12 noon EST
◆
  • Robert Ford
  • James Jeffrey
  • Bassma Kodmani
Russian president Vladimir Putin
Articles & Testimony
How Russia Is Responding to Joe Biden’s Syria Airstrike
The omissions in Moscow’s statements on the U.S. operation are as revealing as the predictable hyperbole and hypocrisy.
Mar 1, 2021
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
U.S. soldiers at an Iraqi base after a rocket attack by Iran-backed militias
Articles & Testimony
Why Biden’s Airstrikes on Iran Militias Matter
The operation on the Iraq-Syria border could prove more significant than critics allow, but only if the administration keeps showing that there are limits to what it will tolerate in pursuing a new nuclear deal.
Feb 26, 2021
◆
  • Phillip Smyth
Brief Analysis
Biden’s Warning to Iran and Its Proxies: Implications of the Syria Strike
The administration’s early recourse to armed force may have surprised Tehran, but the proxy tests will continue, suggesting the need for sustained U.S. intelligence support and multilateral engagement with partners.
Feb 26, 2021
◆
  • Michael Knights
Map "Syria's Borders Are Under External Control"
Maps & Graphics
Brief Analysis
The Assad Regime Has Failed to Restore Full Sovereignty Over Syria
By ceding control of its borders and airspace to various foreign actors, the regime has essentially resigned itself to a limited but potentially durable existence for the long term.
Feb 10, 2021
◆
  • Fabrice Balanche
Syria chessboard international and local players
In-Depth Reports
Syria at the Center of Power Competition and Counterterrorism
Even as U.S. policymakers must stay focused on the Assad regime’s culpability, they also face a complex web of power dynamics in which Russia, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and other actors are attempting to secure their various interests.
Feb 8, 2021
◆
  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Articles & Testimony
Tunisians of the Iraq Jihad and How That Set the Stage for the Syrian Jihad
The disproportionate role of Tunisians in both campaigns can be traced to a wide array of factors, including travel routes, prison experiences, battlefield leadership, and propaganda patterns back home.
Jan 29, 2021
◆
  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Video
Brief Analysis
Humanitarian Aid and the Biden Administration: Lessons from Yemen and Syria
Veteran NGO practitioners with deep experience in the aid sector discuss how Washington can help fix flawed approaches to assisting civilians in these two conflict zones.
Jan 25, 2021
◆
  • Jan Egeland
  • Alex Harper
  • Emma Beals
  • Jomana Qaddour
  • Elana DeLozier
  • Charles Thépaut
Brief Analysis
How Might Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” Test Biden?
The new administration could face an Iranian military strike as early as inauguration day, along with multiple threats from the Assad regime, Hezbollah, and other actors down the road, all requiring clear demonstrations of U.S. resolve.
Jan 15, 2021
◆
  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Christine McVann
Brief Analysis
A Short-Term Diplomatic Agenda for the Syrian Puzzle
If Biden wants to create additional leverage before attempting difficult negotiations with Russia, he will need to display strategic patience by partnering with allies on ten preliminary issues.
Dec 21, 2020
◆
  • Charles Thépaut
Articles & Testimony
My Beloved Brothers in God, This Is an Invitation: The Islamic State’s Dawa and Mosques Administration
An in-depth study on how the group's outreach and proselytization activities evolved before, during, and after its jihadist state-building project in Iraq and Syria.
December 2020
◆
  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Brief Analysis
Al-Qaeda’s External Operations One Year After the Pensacola Attack
Drone campaigns have greatly culled the group’s leadership, but leaders are replaceable, and the guided-attack model seen in Pensacola could be a significant force multiplier for any locally rooted affiliates who seek to strike abroad in the coming years.
Dec 11, 2020
◆
  • Matthew Levitt
  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Articles & Testimony
Erdogan Will Play Biden, But Stick to Putin
The new U.S. administration will have a brief, early window to exert leverage, but Erdogan’s asymmetric relationship with Moscow may keep him from substantially altering Turkish policy on the S-400 dispute and regional issues.
Dec 9, 2020
◆
  • Soner Cagaptay
Russian president Vladimir Putin
Articles & Testimony
Russia’s Soft Power Projection in the Middle East
Moscow conducts far more soft-power activity in the region than one might suspect, using subversive and opaque versions of the same tools employed by the West.
Dec 4, 2020
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Articles & Testimony
A Matter of History, Diasporas, Diplomacy and Security: French Foreign Policy Drivers in MENA
French decisionmaking in Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and other regional states is shaped by an adaptive but strategically consistent mix of security interests, economic relations, diplomatic activism, and cultural outreach.
Nov 23, 2020
◆
  • Charles Thépaut
A man walks by a mural of international currencies
Articles & Testimony
Funding in Place: Local Financing Trends Behind Today’s Global Terrorist Threat
Two former U.S. Treasury officials provide an in-depth look at how geography, ideology, and a host of practical concerns shape the manner in which terrorists raise, store, and move their funds.
Nov 18, 2020
◆
  • Katherine Bauer
  • Matthew Levitt
Video
Brief Analysis
Terrorism in France: New and Old Trends in Jihadism
Three experts on European jihadism discuss the root causes and operational significance of recent Islamist violence in France.
Nov 13, 2020
◆
  • Laurence Bindner
  • Hugo Micheron
  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Brief Analysis
Keeping Down a Diminished Islamic State: The Prospect of an October Surprise Attack
The relatively low risk underscores the importance of Washington’s continued pressure to curtail the jihadist group’s strike capability outside its areas of operation.
Oct 20, 2020
◆
  • Ido Levy
In-Depth Reports
Prospects for Syrian Kurdish Unity: Assessing Local and Regional Dynamics
In October 2019, the U.S. troop withdrawal and subsequent Turkish invasion of northern Syria upended Kurdish plans in the region. But a year later, the major Syrian Kurdish rivals—the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish National Council (KNC)—are coming together after a lengthy estrangement. This past June, representatives from the
Oct 19, 2020
◆
  • Sirwan Kajjo
Articles & Testimony
UAE-Israel Peace Is Revealing the Middle East’s Faultlines
Much of the commentary surrounding the deal has focused on what it portends for the Palestinian issue and other Israeli relationships, but it may say just as much about the four rival factions that have crystallized in the region since 2011.
Sep 26, 2020
◆
  • Sarah Feuer

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Page 9
  • …
  • Last page Last »
  • Next page Next ›

Sign Up for Updates on Syria

Never miss a breaking event on U.S. policy interests in the Middle East. Customize your subscription to our expert analysis, op-eds, live events, podcasts, and special reports.

Sign up

Background image with TWI branding
logo
wordmark
Homepage

1111 19th Street NW - Suite 500
Washington D.C. 20036
Tel: 202-452-0650
Fax: 202-223-5364

Footer contact links

  • Contact
  • Press Room

The Washington Institute seeks to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them.

The Institute is a 501(c)3 organization; all donations are tax-deductible.

Footer quick links

  • About TWI
  • Support the Institute

Social media

  • The Washington Institute on Facebook facebook
  • The Washington Institute on Twitter twitter
  • The Washington Institute on YouTube youtube
  • The Washington Institute on Soundcloud soundcloud

© 2021 All rights reserved.

Footer

  • Employment
  • Privacy Policy
  • Rights & Permissions