All Policy Analysis by Andrew J. Tabler

A journalist who has covered the wars in Syria and Iraq offers a rare eyewitness account of how the conflicts have defied expert predictions, eroded state identity, and threatened the wider geostrategic order. Watch video.

Does Syria's climate of ethnic and sectarian hostility stem from seven years of war, or do its social fissures predate the conflict?

The compiled series provides a timely country-by-country guidebook for engaging non-Islamist, pluralistically inclined actors in North Africa, the Gulf, and the Levant.

A joint U.S.-Russia statement and peace talks must be fleshed out quickly to ensure a growing Iranian presence in the country does not fuel a jihadist comeback.

By helping Assad's forces bridge the river, Moscow is increasing the risk of direct confrontation while obstructing U.S. efforts to defeat IS, stabilize eastern Syria, and limit Iranian arms transfers.

A discussion of Syria's Sykes-Picot origins, the recent U.S.-Russia de-escalation deal, and the Sunni-Shia contest in the region.