Middle East Security Research

Despite the overwhelming media attention given to Homs and Damascus, the ongoing showdown between rebel and regime forces in Aleppo City is rooted in the months-old conflict in Aleppo’s northern countryside.

This backgrounder will review how Israel has responded to threats with what has become a core component of Israeli defense strategy, the world’s first battle-tested, integrated missile defense shield.

On June 27, 2012, AEI, ISW, and the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution conducted a one-day crisis simulation that focused on the impact of spillover from the civil war in Syria.

While the Assad regime focuses its efforts on Syrian cities, border regions, and the coastal provinces, rebel groups in Jebel al-Zawiyah have built command-and-control structures and strengthened their offensive capabilities.

This backgrounder provides a technical description of the Turkish RF-4E, the Syrian air defenses, analysis of the differing radar snapshots provided by Syria and Turkey, and analysis of the current situation.

This fact sheet provides a brief analysis of the Iranian submarine fleet and its potential future capabilities.

This report examines the increasing effectiveness of Syria’s armed opposition, explains how responsible provincial-level military structures have emerged, and considers how uncoordinated external support could compound existing fractures within the opposition.

President Bashar al-Assad’s regime held parliamentary elections in early May in an effort to create a narrative of democratic transition and to offer fence-sitters the belief that peaceful reform was possible.

This report is a product of the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War. It expands and builds on the 2008 report on Iranian influence.

As President Bashar al-Assad's army continues to bombard multiple areas at the same time, the growing armed opposition movement is becoming an increasingly important element in the Syrian crisis.