December, 2025

• 2 December

  The Threat of ISIS in a Fragmentated Syria

  

  It has now been nearly three months since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) came to power in Syria. After the joy over the end of the Assad era, all eyes are on HTS to see whether they can govern in a highly fragmented Syria and prevent a potential resurgence of the …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  A fractured front: Autonomy or integration for Syria’s Kurds?

  

  As Damascus enters the US-led coalition against ISIS, its relationship with Syria’s Kurds, America’s longstanding ally, remains fraught with distrust Syria became the 90th country to join the US-led multinational coalition against the Islamic State (IS) following interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s cordial meeting with US President Donald Trump in the …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  Gaza’s secret flights: Inside Israel’s new push for forced transfer

  

  As Gaza’s misery deepens, secret flights approved by Israel offer a way out. But many fear they are laying the groundwork for a silent population transfer A bombshell report exposing a shadowy organisation’s secret charter flights transporting Palestinians out of Gaza has raised growing fears of an expanding policy of …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  Occupation and opportunity: Israel’s strategy in post-Assad Syria

  

  As Syria struggles to rebuild, Israel is using the chaos to entrench military dominance and prevent any new regional order from restraining its power It has been nearly a year since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s government in Syria. For the past nearly 12 months, Israel has continued its aggression, …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  Yellow lines and green zones: The de facto partition of Gaza

  

  Last week, the UN Security Council endorsed President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, effectively installing American supervision over the Palestinian territory’s postwar future. The resolution, which mandated a transitional administration and an international stabilisation force, faced sharp rejection from several Palestinian factions, who warned that it would undermine the national …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 29, 2025

  

  Toplines Russian state media is leveraging Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent statements to intensify the false narrative that the frontline in Ukraine will imminently collapse, likely in an effort to coerce the West and Ukraine into capitulating to Russian demands that Russia cannot secure itself militarily. ISW continues to assess …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  Qatar’s Campus Conquest: Importing Muslim Brotherhood Policies in a War for the Future of the West

  

  According to a shocking new report by the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), as well as Jihad in America: The Grand Deception, a 2012 film by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, the Muslim Brotherhood, along with its major patron, Qatar, has a dangerous ideological agenda aimed at undermining …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  The Ruptured Russian Undersea Pipeline That’s Still Making Waves

  

  On October 17, a Polish court denied Germany’s request to extradite a man suspected of masterminding one of the most daring acts of sabotage in recent decades: the 2022 destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to carry billions of cubic metres of Russian natural gas direct …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  Democracy Digest: Orban Visits Serbia, Russia with Energy Top of the Agenda

  Hungarian PM Viktor Orban visited Serbia on Thursday to discuss increasing oil exports there, before jetting off to Russia on Friday to talk with Vladimir Putin about crude oil and gas supplies to Hungary. Orban met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the northern Serbian town of Subotica on Thursday …

  Read More »
• 2 December

  Israeli Escalation Against Hezbollah Puts Fragile Lebanon Ceasefire in Doubt

  

  An Israeli attack on Sunday killed one of Hezbollah’s top leaders, threatening to unravel a November 2024 ceasefire that has kept most of the Lebanese population out of the crossfire. Hezbollah has been rebuilding its missile and drone arsenal, but its capacity to retaliate is limited by continued military weakness …

  Read More »