The Syrian Civil War

Clashes in the strategic town of Ain Issa will remain a threat as Ankara and its Syrian proxies seize the opportunity to bolster their position against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

In this Essential Geopolitics podcast from Stratfor, a RANE company, Emily Donahue gets a rundown from global security analyst Thomas Abi-Hanna on the top terror threats Stratfor and RANE are monitoring in 2021.

The new U.S. sanctions on Turkey's defense sector will impede the Biden administration’s ability to foster a more productive relationship with Ankara.

A deeper defense relationship could help Riyadh and Israel counter Iran in proxy theaters such as Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Israel will focus on expanding settlements in the West Bank and undermining U.S.-Iran negotiations as it seeks to cement the gains it has made under Trump.

A larger military footprint than previously expected may help Biden pressure Damascus into peace talks if his predecessor doesn’t make a final withdrawal attempt.

Further Russian and Syrian provocations against Turkish proxies may eventually force Ankara to deploy its own military.

To secure its counterterrorism efforts, Washington appears to be shifting away from its maximum isolation strategy toward more limited engagement with Damascus.

The potential election of a new U.S. administration in November could see Washington take a more confrontational stance against al-Assad’s regime and its Russian and Iranian backers.