The Syrian Civil War

The war began in 2011 after pro-democracy protests were met with repression by the Assad government. What started as a political uprising quickly became an armed conflict as local, regional, and sectarian fault lines took over.

Syria soon became a proxy battlefield. Russia and Iran backed the Assad government, while Turkey, Gulf states, the United States, and a range of opposition groups shaped the conflict on the other side. That external support prolonged the war and fragmented the country further.

Chemical attacks, siege warfare, and repeated bombardment became defining features of the war. Millions of Syrians were displaced internally or forced to leave the country, creating one of the largest refugee crises of the century.

The rise of ISIS added a second, more transnational conflict layer. The anti-ISIS campaign helped roll back the group's territorial control, but it did not solve the underlying political crisis or reunify the country.

Syria remains divided into zones of influence, with the regime in control of the core state apparatus but without a durable political settlement. Reconstruction, accountability, and refugee return all remain unresolved.