The Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), a transnational ultraconservative Islamist group has been a thorn in the Syrian revolution since its inception in April 2013. The group is at the centre of a new round of infighting in rebel-held Syria
What will be the big foreign policy trends in 2014? Mark Leonard talks to Julien Barnes-Dacey and Vessela Tcherneva about what will shape the…
Rania Abouzeid, who has spent considerable time in Syria among the armed opposition, will consider the prominence, role and ideology of extremist fighters and the regional ramifications.
How sectarian agendas shape the politics of the Middle East
“The world in 30 minutes” is a brand new ECFR podcast on the ideas, policies and trends that will shape the world. In this…
It is time to set Lakhdar Brahimi free. After a year's service as envoy for the United Nations and Arab League to Syria, the veteran Algerian mediator faces the final breakdown of his efforts to end the war
Anthony Dworkin and Nicholas Walton discuss some of the aspects of the potential US-led strikes on Syria, from their goal to the implications for…
With the parliamentary rejection of a major foreign policy initiative, Britain has crossed a watershed in foreign policy making, but the question is not about whether the UK engages with the world. It is about how its foreign policy is made
Before any Western intervention in the Syrian conflict, eight key issues need to be considered – from the goals of intervention and the legal issue to the regional impact and the possibility of a diplomatic alternative
Two years after the beginning of an uprising against President Bashar-al-Assad, Syria is gripped by an ever deepening civil war that is having a significant impact on the entire region.