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Syria

Policy Analysis on Syria

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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
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  • Jan Egeland
  • Alex Harper
  • Emma Beals
  • Jomana Qaddour
  • Elana DeLozier
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
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Christine McVann
Articles & Testimony
Russia Has the Edge in Managed Competition with Turkey
Although Moscow and Ankara are pursuing different aims in Syria, Libya, and the South Caucasus, they have managed to avoid direct confrontation.
Jan 7, 2021
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
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
◆ Counterterrorism Lecture Series
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
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  • 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
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  • Sarah Feuer
Articles & Testimony
Franco-Turkish Competition Ascendant
Given their sharply diverging views on conflict zones, secularism, and regional spheres of influence, the two states are swiftly becoming NATO’s next diplomatic hotspot.
Sep 23, 2020
◆
  • Soner Cagaptay
Articles & Testimony
The Russian Way of War in Syria: Threat Perception and Approaches to Counterterrorism
Putin’s Russia and the West have never shared the same goals or threat perceptions regarding terrorism and other regional issues, so Washington should craft its Syria policy accordingly.
Sep 10, 2020
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Articles & Testimony
Living Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain: The Case of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi
Recent developments in Syria indicate that the jihadi movement is splitting once again, as a prominent ideologue begins to form a third pole at odds with both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Sep 9, 2020
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  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Brief Analysis
Russian-Iranian Tensions in Deir al-Zour
To prevent the two rivals from expanding their influence in east Syria, the coalition needs to exploit their simmering disunity, empower its partners on the ground, and establish stronger ties with select tribal and community leaders.
Sep 4, 2020
◆
  • Oula A. Alrifai
  • Ali Alleile
Articles & Testimony
Why Instability in Belarus, Khabarovsk, and Lebanon Creates Problems Putin Doesn’t Want
Current events in Lebanon may seem remote compared to protests closer to Russia, but the situation in Beirut directly affects Moscow’s policy in Syria and its evolving status as a regional player.
Aug 27, 2020
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Russian president Vladimir Putin
Brief Analysis
Russia Aims to Preserve the Status Quo in Lebanon
Although state officials and media have expressed somewhat nuanced views on the Beirut disaster and subsequent protests, most of their comments boil down to preventing deeper U.S. involvement and safeguarding Moscow’s interests in the current power structure.
Aug 12, 2020
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Articles & Testimony
Moscow and Ankara Will Continue Uneasy Cooperation
Putin set a trap for Erdogan long ago, and because the Turkish leader woke up too late to his predicament, he now has little leverage in the unequal bilateral relationship.
Aug 6, 2020
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Brief Analysis
The Kurdish Role in Russia’s Middle East Power Play
As Moscow continues to intervene in regional conflicts, politics, and energy affairs, Washington should not underestimate its deep-rooted relationships with Kurdish groups in various countries.
Jul 29, 2020
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya

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Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics

The Washington Institute's Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics focuses on social, political, and economic developments in the Arab world, with an emphasis on the Arab countries of the Levant.

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Featured experts

Andrew J. Tabler
Andrew J. Tabler
Andrew J. Tabler is the Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow in the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, where he focuses on Syria and U.S. policy in the Levant.
Grant Rumley
Grant Rumley
Grant Rumley is the Meisel-Goldberger Senior Fellow and Director of the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
David Schenker
David Schenker
David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics. He is the former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
Elizabeth Dent - source: The Washington Institute
Elizabeth Dent
Elizabeth Dent is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she focuses on U.S. foreign and defense policy toward the Gulf states, Iraq, and Syria.
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