Key points Observers and practitioners are frequently frustrated at the level of defense burden-sharing in U.S. alliances—alliance members’ contributions to collective defense objectives—and particularly at allies’ low level of investment in their own defense. This paper compares two approaches to soliciting burden-sharing in U.S. alliances: retrenchment and conditionality. Retrenchment refers …

President Donald Trump recently informed Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel that he intends to withdraw the 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria to combat the remnants of Islamic State, according to Israeli media. If true, that news is sure to stir the pot in Washington, where Trump’s pledge to remove …

The fall of the brutal Assad regime marks a critical opportunity for the United States to remove itself entirely from Syria, avoiding entanglement in further war. American troops have been in Syria for the past decade with the primary objective of defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), …

President Donald Trump’s stunning proposal to forcibly transfer hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and develop it as a tourist destination faces major obstacles. The Palestinians and many others view such plans as an attempt to drive them from their homeland after Israel’s 15-month offensive against …

On January 29, 2025, a “Convention to Announce the Victory of the Syrian Revolution” was held in Damascus, where Ahmed Al-Sharaa aka Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, who had served as leader of jihadi group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), was announced interim president of Syria.[1] A “Statement Announcing the Victory of the …

On January 29, 2025, Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa aka Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, described as the “leader of the new Syrian administration,” delivered an address titled “Victory Speech.”[1] Al-Sharaa celebrated the triumph of the Syrian revolution, as he announces radical transformation marked by leadership change, political restructuring, economic …

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Unless the world begins to value Palestinian life as equal to their own, ceasefires in Gaza will be mere pauses in the bloodshed, says Mohammed R. Mhawish. When my family and I emerged from the rubble of our home in Gaza in December 2023, we didn’t know if the calm …

Assessing North Korea’s Role in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict More details are emerging as North Korea continues its direct involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. One interesting aspect is North Korean forces’ rules of engagement. Open-source indicators reveal that Pyongyang has ordered its fighters to avoid being taken as prisoners of …

In Syria, putting Humpty Dumpty together again is no mean task. Israel’s demolition of the ill-equipped Syrian military and the recent occupation of additional Syrian territory beyond the Golan Heights it conquered in the 1967 Middle East war is just one obstacle. So is a daunting list of challenges that, …