Syria

Tighter border security would pose an existential threat to IS, not to mention hindering its travel, smuggling, and recruitment efforts.

Pushing the Syrian opposition to the negotiating table while the regime's onslaught continues will only worsen the situation, so Washington should press Russia for a true ceasefire if it wants the talks to produce actual progress.

Moscow's decision to intervene in Syria is spurring further radicalization and terrorist recruitment among Russian Muslims, and the government's response at home and abroad has not helped the situation.

The Islamic State's choice of target likely reflects a very deliberate attempt to short-circuit U.S.-Turkish military efforts along the Syrian border and exacerbate tensions in Europe.

By taking an overcautious approach in Syria, the president has highlighted America's failure to have an open discussion about the real strategic lessons of the Iraq war.

An Egyptian analyst and a Washington Institute expert discuss the results and implications of the latest Institute polls conducted in the region, touching on the Syria war, Iran, perceptions of U.S. policy, and other pressing issues.

On 18 November liberal-leaning radio program Echo Moskvy (Moscow’s Echo) hosted Russian political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky on an approximately hour-long talk show, Personally Yours, with host Alexei Naryshkin to discuss Russia’s intervention in Syria. The accompanying excerpts are from the show transcript, posted on the radio’s web-site. Belkovsky made several

Efforts to defeat the Islamic State cannot succeed without making clear to the group's adepts that their vision for society has no chance of remaining an effective battle cry in the long term, much less becoming a functioning state.

To have any hope of deterring, limiting, or winning the coming conflicts in the Middle East, Washington needs to widen its view beyond the Islamic State in the manner that regional states are already doing.