U.S. Policy

The U.S. government can counter the narrative of withdrawal by disassociating its regional commitment from the number of “boots on the ground,” building longer-term security cooperation plans, and clarifying its CAATSA sanctions policy.

Moscow has repeatedly played actors off each other to secure its own interests and keep the Assad regime in power.

Caught between aggressive Tehran-backed militias and a skeptical Congress, the administration needs a better approach.

Washington's current regional posture of heavy presence but strategic diffidence offers China the best of both worlds—a continued American security umbrella over countries increasingly interested in diversifying their great power relationships.

Tehran is increasingly relying on its vast regional propaganda machine to pursue its anti-American objectives, but policymakers need to be simultaneously more precise and more comprehensive in how they counter it.

U.S. website seizures are unlikely to have much direct impact on Iran’s media, nuclear, or terrorist activities, but they should serve as another wake-up call about the regime’s ultimate objectives and modus operandi.

To some, America's partnership with the SDF exemplified an economy-of-force effort that minimized U.S. casualties and wrested control of northeast Syria from the Islamic State. To others, it was a cautionary tale about a U.S. military hoodwinked into working with a terrorist group.

Amid talk of a potential new Security Council resolution, veteran diplomats and aid practitioners debate the future of humanitarian assistance to needy Syrians.

Shifting away from a U.S.-led military posture will require Washington to repair its damaged credibility with allies abroad and disentangle counterterrorism budgets at home.