Syria / Iraq / Lebanon

Syria: the Kurdish view

  • Dimitar Bechev
  • Commentary

This essay forms part of an eight-part ECFR series exploring the regional responses, dynamics and ramifications of the Syrian uprising and civil war. These…

Syria: the view from Israel

  • Dimi Reider
  • Commentary

Israel’s strategic approach to Syria can be described as wary, pragmatic and broken down into specific micro areas of threats and interests rather than comprising a comprehensive picture of what kind of Syria it would like to see, and what it could do to facilitate this outcome.  

Syria: the view from Turkey

  • Nuh Yilmaz
  • Commentary

The crisis in Syria has presented a profound challenge to Ankara’s orientation towards Damascus, forcing it to adapt to changing conditions on the ground that confounded the expectations of Turkish policy makers – as well as challenging its Zero Problem with Neighbors (ZPwN) foreign policy.  

Syria: the view from Lebanon

  • Julien Barnes-Dacey
  • Commentary

Tensions in Lebanon, whose political fate has long been intimately tied to Syria, are sharpening rapidly as its neighbour sinks deeper into a sectarian civil war. But a growing number of clashes within Lebanon are now raising fears that a domestic eruption is becoming hard to avoid.  

Syria: the view from Jordan

  • Julien Barnes-Dacey
  • Commentary

Amman has gradually escalated its anti-Assad posture, providing wider political and military support in a bid to try and prevent the emergence of a chaotic no man’s land on its border, it continues to seek a political deal to end the conflict.  

Syria: the view from Iran

  • Jubin Goodarzi
  • Commentary

This essay forms part of an eight-part ECFR series exploring the regional responses, dynamics and ramifications of the Syrian uprising and civil war. These…