Syria

Pro-Kurdish politicians of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Sirri Sureyya Onder (C), Pervin Buldan (L) and Idris Baluken attend a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, June 12, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

Two routes to an impasse: Understanding Turkey’s Kurdish policy

Ayşegül Aydın and Cem Emrence

December 2016

U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, commander, U.S. Central Command, briefs the media at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S. April 29, 2016 about the investigation of the airstrike on the Doctors Without Borders trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan on October 3, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RTX2C6NN

The state of the Middle East, from the point of view of the CENTCOM commander

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Friday, December 2, 2016

Fighters of the Syrian Islamist rebel group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the former al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, ride on a pick-up truck in the 1070 Apartment Project area in southwestern Aleppo, Syria August 5, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTSL8ZO

Trump’s instincts on Syria are partially right

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Fighters from Jaish al-Izzah, part of the Free Syrian Army, stand in attention during a military display as part of a graduation ceremony at a camp in the Hama province, Syria July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTSK90N

The Free Syrian Army: A decentralized insurgent brand

November 2016

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a speech at the 60th anniversary of the founding of the German Intelligence Services (BND) in Berlin, Germany, November 28, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Germany’s Merkel seeks fourth term to defend threatened “values”

Constanze Stelzenmüller

Monday, November 21, 2016

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with a Portuguese television channel in this handout picture provided by SANA on November 15, 2016. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2TWKS

Should we work with the devil we know against the Islamic State?

Daniel L. Byman

Monday, November 21, 2016

American flags.

Experts weigh in: What this election means for U.S. foreign policy and next steps

The problems of the Middle East have gotten so bad that middle options, or limited options, aren't going to work.

Al Jazeera English Tuesday, November 8, 2016

DATE IMPORTED:November 01, 2016FILE PHOTO: Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012, a day before the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo

Saudi Arabia losing ground to Iran

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, October 20, 2015. Assad flew into Moscow on Tuesday for a meeting with Putin during which the two men discussed their joint military campaign against Islamist militants in Syria, a Kremlin spokesman said. Picture taken October 20, 2015. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. - RTS5E7K

Americans dislike the Islamic State more than Putin or Assad. Here’s how that shapes policy preferences.

Shibley Telhami

Friday, November 4, 2016