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Politics

Israel reportedly presented Syria with a proposal for a security agreement with a map that includes demilitarized zones south of Damascus up to the border with Israel, Axios reported on Sept. 16. 

Israel, Syria: Israel Presents Syria With Maximalist Proposal for Security Agreement

Economics

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced the launch of the Syrian Development Fund to promote the reconstruction of the country, Anadolu Agency reported on Sept. 4. 

Syria: Government Reconstruction Fund Reaches $30 Million in Minutes

United Arab Emirates

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa ruled out joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing ties with Israel, Anadolu Agency reported on Aug. 26.

Syria, Israel: Al-Sharaa Rules Out Joining Abraham Accords

The U.N. World Food Program said about three million Syrians could face severe hunger soon, as Damascus has failed to secure large wheat purchases in the face of a severe drought and a substantial decline in agricultural production, Reuters reported on Aug. 18.

Syria: Wheat Shortage Increases Damascus' Need for Aid

Turkey

Turkish and Syrian defense ministers signed a memorandum of understanding for military cooperation, including training and consultancy, and support to combat the Islamic State in Syria, The Washington Post reported on Aug. 13.

Turkey, Syria: Turkey and Syria Ink Military Cooperation Deal

Syria will hold its first post-Assad elections for the newly expanded 210-seat parliament on Sept. 15-20, with foreign observers invited to monitor the results, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on July 27.

Syria: Parliamentary Elections To Be Held in September

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met in Paris, France, with U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack to de-escalate bilateral tensions after the latest round of Israeli strikes in Syria, Axios reported on July 24.

Syria, Israel: Officials Discuss De-Escalating Tensions Following Israeli Strikes in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said any minority groups that tried to fragment Syria, such as the Druze and the Kurds, would face military intervention from Turkey, Hurriyet Daily News reported on July 22. 

Turkey, Syria: Turkish President, Foreign Minister Reject Syrian Fragmentation

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A mosque in March 2025 in Herat, Afghanistan. Whether Islamism revives as in the Levant, evolves pragmatically through parties with Islamic values as in Turkey, or changes beyond all recognition remains up in the air.

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Whether Islamism revives as in the Levant, evolves pragmatically through parties with Islamic values as in Turkey, or changes beyond all recognition remains up in the air.

The Future of Islamism in the Middle East

Assessments

A tank is seen during Turkey's International Defense Industry Fair on July 22, 2024, in Istanbul.

Turkey's push to improve its air defenses in Syria amid Israel's ongoing aerial campaign raises the risk of tactical incidents and a brief crisis, although a larger conflict remains unlikely.

In Syria, Turkey and Israel's Parallel Deployments Heighten Flashpoint Risks

Israeli military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025.

While the two countries may engage in limited security cooperation, Israel's continued military interventions in Syria and the lack of U.S. economic pressure on Damascus will make full normalization nearly impossible.

Despite Recent Talks, Syria-Israel Normalization Remains Highly Unlikely

The new flag of Syria's interim government.

Parliamentary elections in September will cement Syrian leaders' power at the expense of many minority groups, deepening national fragmentation and heightening risks of violent unrest, particularly amid Israeli military intervention.

In Syria, Parliamentary Elections Will Deepen Political and Sectarian Divides

U.S. Army soldiers prepare to go out on patrol from a remote combat outpost in northeastern Syria on May 25, 2021. 

The U.S. is shifting its Syria strategy from isolation to limited engagement to stabilize the country and protect American interests there, but Turkey and Israel's competing influence campaigns could complicate Washington's approach.

In Post-Assad Syria, the U.S. Struggles to Find a New Strategy

Palestinian Territories

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Yemen

U.S. President Donald Trump (right) interacts with Oman Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Asaad (second from right) as they prepare to pose for photos with leaders during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Leaders' Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 14, 2025.

Energy

Despite Trump's recent sharp words on his predecessor's "forever wars," U.S. trade and energy interests will keep him engaged in the region, though in ways that rely more on economic and diplomatic leverage, as opposed to military campaigns.

Is the Era of U.S. Interventionism in the Middle East Over?

Iran

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan hold the movement's flag during a demonstration in the capital, Amman, on Nov. 28, 2014.

Militant factions of the Muslim Brotherhood will likely go underground in Jordan following the government's ban on the organization, but Iranian influence and persistent socioeconomic grievances will sustain risks of violence.

In Jordan, a Ban Pushes the Muslim Brotherhood Underground

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters aboard Air Force One on May 14, 2025, as he flies to Doha, Qatar, for his first trip to the Middle East since returning to the White House. 

Trump's decision to lift sanctions will help kickstart Syria's war-torn economy and strengthen its new government, but sectarian infighting, Israeli aggression and a resurging Islamic State could still hamper progress.

In Syria, the Promise and Limits of U.S. Sanctions Relief

A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B aircraft over the North Sea having taken off from RAF Fairford on July 1, 2016 in Gloucestershire, England. The tactic designed to allow intervention without deepening withdrawalism will instead do the opposite, and Washington will face more and more calls to retrench from the Middle East.

The tactic designed to allow intervention without deepening withdrawalism will instead do the opposite, and Washington will face more and more calls to retrench from the Middle East.

Washington Bumps up Against the Limits of Airpower in the Middle East

Fighters gather outside a building that was seized by jihadists in Syria's northern Aleppo province on Nov. 29, 2024, amid the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) offensive against government forces.

The two countries will seek to avoid direct conflict amid U.S. pressure to de-escalate tensions, but their competing military presence in Syria and elevated risk tolerances leave the door open to miscalculations and limited clashes.

Can Israel and Turkey Avoid a Conflict in Syria?

A Lebanese flag painted on a damaged building in the village of Meiss El-Jabal in southern Lebanon is seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on Jan. 23, 2025, in northern Israel. 

Hezbollah's military losses and the formation of Lebanon's new government have opened the door to a new chapter in Lebanese history, although external pressure will complicate the country's next steps.

Hezbollah's Future in Lebanon

An Israeli army vehicle patrols near the fence leading into the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone, which separates Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights, on Jan. 5, 2025. 

An open-ended Israeli military campaign in southern Syria risks destabilizing the country's fragile political transition and pushing Damascus back toward anti-Israeli forces like Hezbollah and Iran.

Israel's Effort To Secure Post-Assad Syria Risks Doing the Opposite

<p>Modern Syria is located along the eastern Mediterranean Sea, bordering Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq. Syria&rsquo;s main geographic challenge is uniting its diverse ethnic groups under one domestic power. This is the result of mountainous terrain and ethnic cores that contradict the state&rsquo;s current borders. Syria&rsquo;s population is composed of Sunni Arabs, Alawites, Kurds, Druze, and Christians, among others. The traditional core of Syria&#39;s ruling Alawite minority sits on the northern coastal plain to the west of the Jabal an Nusayriya mountains and to the north of the Anti-Lebanon mountains. Between these two ranges, the Homs Gap has often been the point of invasions from the Mediterranean Sea. The interior region is dominated by the majority Sunni Arab peoples. The Syrian Desert divides this area into two competing regions with strong local identities. The first, Damascus, is the historical capital and the modern seat of power for the Alawites. The other, Aleppo, is situated in the agricultural heartlands of the Aleppo plateau. The Euphrates river divides this plateau from the much more arid Jazirah plateau and allows for irrigation in an otherwise desert region. Syria&rsquo;s modern boundaries fall short of the historical concept of Greater Syria&mdash;spanning from Lebanon to the west and Jordan and Israel to the south. Its current borders were set by the League of Nations&#39; French Mandate, following the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Lebanon, especially Beirut, has always been important to Syria because of its trade ports and access to Mediterranean markets. Syria&rsquo;s recent civil unrest is the latest example of its geographic challenge. Maintaining unity remains difficult so long as its current boundaries continue to overlap regional and ethnic fault lines.</p>

SITUATION REPORTS

Israel, Syria: Israel Presents Syria With Maximalist Proposal for Security Agreement

Syria: Government Reconstruction Fund Reaches $30 Million in Minutes

Syria, Israel: Al-Sharaa Rules Out Joining Abraham Accords

Syria: Wheat Shortage Increases Damascus' Need for Aid

Turkey, Syria: Turkey and Syria Ink Military Cooperation Deal

Syria: Parliamentary Elections To Be Held in September

Syria, Israel: Officials Discuss De-Escalating Tensions Following Israeli Strikes in Syria

Turkey, Syria: Turkish President, Foreign Minister Reject Syrian Fragmentation

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