al-Nusra Front

The first wave of Russian airstrikes seemed to focus on rebel areas that threaten the Assad regime's Alawite heartland

Saudi Arabia's concern about Sunni terrorists at home suggests its toleration of al-Qaeda in Yemen and Syria is an unsavory, tactical move against Iran and its allies there.

Favorable poll numbers aside, Hezbollah's adventure in Syria is raising concerns among the group's Lebanese Shiite constituency.

Syria’s million-strong Druze minority finds itself in the crosshairs of war — and forced into a no-win choice to secure its survival.

Recent attacks on the Syrian Druze community threaten to further roil sectarian tensions, radicalize Druze elements, and potentially draw Israel into the civil war.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are finally working together to fight terrorism, and that’s good and bad news to the Obama administration

This weekend, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech about the Lebanese Shiite militia's impending victory in the Syrian border district of Qalamoun.

The wider network appears to have moved on somewhat from Zawahiri and the central leadership, hoping to carry the banner against ISIS while continuing the fight against its local and global enemies.

Augmenting the planned force could help address intensifying threats posed by ISIS, along with Iran-backed militias and the Assad regime.

Syria's regime is now an Iranian proxy, while Saudi Arabia and Turkey support some questionable opposition groups.