Turkish Military Operation in Syria Risks Clash with Iran
The Turkish Government’s plan to launch a fifth military operation into Syria is back on the table. The stated goal is to create a 20-mile “safe zone” along Turkey’s border…
Iran and Syria Discuss Transportation Cooperation
IRGC owned airlines have long shuttled men and material between airports in Tehran or the nearby city of Karaj and both Damascus and Beirut. ...
Impact of Taliban’s Return to Power on Syrian and Turkish Extremists Still Unknown
The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan after 20 years of waging an insurgency has raised a debate about how extremist movements in other regions would react. The accompanying article…
Russia Planning To End Rebellion in Daraa Province and Sideline Iran
A Russia-backed plan to both limit Iranian influence and extinguish the embers of rebellion is underway in Daraa Province, the symbolic cradle of Syria’s 2011 uprising. Rebel holdouts in the…
Syria Set for Return to the Middle East Stage
As the accompanying passage from a respected Middle East expert featured on Turkish online news portal Gazete Duvar convincingly argues, the winds are shifting in favor of Syria in the…
Violent Non-State Actors in Africa Increasing Their Use of Drones
As the accompanying article from the South African security think tank the Institute for Security Studies notes, the use of drones by African violent non-state actors has received little media…
Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Seeks to Use Taliban’s Success
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian group formerly known as the Nusra Front that currently controls most of Idlib Province, publicly celebrated the Taliban’s recent rise to power. For the…
Russia’s Lessons Learned from Syria: Reinforced Companies
The accompanying excerpted article from Voyennaya Mysl, the monthly journal of the Russian General Staff, features an article coauthored by General Aleksandr Dvornikov, Commander of the Southern Military District, about…
China’s Overtures in Syria Show Concern Over Turkistan Islamic Party Fighters
In mid-July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Syria in what was the highest-level Chinese government visit since the start of the Syrian conflict, timed to coincide with the swearing-in…
Fresh Insights into Iran’s New Military Base in Syria
The accompanying passages from Kurdish, Turkish, and independent sources provide insight into a new military base that Iran is building in Syria. The base, reportedly located in Syria’s Aleppo province,…