Syria
As Syrians celebrate the end of the tyrannical regime of Bashar al-Assad, the war-weary Syrian state faces a combustible set of challenges to its political, security, and territorial governance. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), tasked with proving its credentials as a moderate Islamist movement capable of governing the country from Damascus, faces rival claims for territorial control asserted by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. How these two actors—HTS and the SDF—navigate their divergent interests and goals will shape Syria’s future political map.
