Following bilateral closed-door talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, on September 8, Armenia’s interim Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told journalists that Russia and Armenia would soon launch a “joint humanitarian mission” in Syria (Azatutyun.am, September 8). The operation, apparently requested by Bashar al-Assad’s... MORE

Introduction The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) was one of the world’s more obscure jihadist groups until it emerged as a key player in the Syrian civil war in 2013. When the then Afghanistan-and-Pakistan-based TIP first began releasing videos in 2008—the year the TIP and corresponding... MORE

In August, the al-Assad government reportedly began to deploy a significant number of former armed opposition fighters, approximately 2,000, from southwest Syria against Islamic State (IS) affiliates in the southwest Syrian governorates of Dara’a and Suwayda (Syria Net, August 26; Enab Baladi [Dara’a], August 17;... MORE

The war in Ukraine’s east was the topic that Merkel placed at the top of her remarks at the August 18 Berlin-Meseberg meeting with Putin (see Part One). Putin relegated this topic to the end of his remarks, as if to confirm Russia’s current tactic... MORE

Military preparations for an offensive on the rebel-controlled Syrian province of Idlib are complete, air strikes have already commenced, and the Russian diplomatic dance around Syria’s war zone is moving into its final phase. Yet, the costs of the devastating victory might turn out to... MORE

Syria: al-Qaeda Looks to Revive Its Fortunes An attack on Syrian government forces in the country’s Hama governorate appears to have been intended to raise the profile of a rejuvenated al-Qaeda-linked alliance in the midst of Syria’s conflict. Syrian forces have been ramping up their... MORE

The man who has the strongest Russian support in Syria might not be President Bashar al-Assad but rather one his most trusted commanders. During his visit to the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with senior Russian... MORE

On August 10, 2015, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department implemented an executive order sanctioning three Russian citizens involved in terrorist activities. Among the individuals mentioned on the sanctions list was North Caucasian militant Abu-Jihad, one of the key Russian-speaking... MORE

The fruits of President Vladimir Putin’s “victory” at the meeting with President Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, are turning increasingly bitter for Russia as initial dismay and angry responses in the United States have continued to coalesce into strong pushback (see EDM,... MORE

In the past several days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the first deputy defense minister and chief of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, went on an unprecedented joint trip to Israel, Germany and France to promote a new plan to rebuild Syria and... MORE