Countering Terrorism

Al-Qaeda appears set to make a comeback in Pakistan, with battle-hardened militants returning from Syria and Iraq returning to the country.

The Syrian Crisis has now definitively entered a new phase, in which the shifting priorities of external states are driving the creation of an interim set of pre-settlement conditions. Since the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen in March 2015 and Russia’s military intervention in September 2015, the geopolitical dynamic has been evolving in a direction that has undermined the Syrian opposition’s struggle against the Assad regime. Two years later, that anti-Assad struggle has never looked weaker or more vulnerable. Whatever nuanced statements one might hear these days from officials in Washington, London, Paris, Riyadh or Ankara, the reality is that none of those governments now seek the removal of Assad, nor do they even see that as possible.

Women lead movements against the fundamentalist armed forces imposing harsh Islamic regulations.

In this week's Monday Briefing, MEI experts Randa Slim, Charles Lister, and Mabrouka M'Barek analyze the progress of ongoing negotiations over peace in Syria, rising tensions in Idlib province, and Tunisia's lobbying efforts to ensure continued U.S. aid.

Syrian civil society groups have faced seemingly insurmountable challenges in the five-year war, and can count few friends among the violent actors on the ground. Nevertheless, their work and determination continues unabated, with little external attention, recognition or support. Syrian civil society will have an important role to play in any post-war settlement. Two Syrian civil society activists, Salma Kahale and Oula Ramadan, were recently hosted by the Middle East Institute during their visit to Washington and shared their insight into the tireless, and often unnoticed, efforts of Syrian civil society.