How will Syria deal with its growing security challenges?

A deal between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was anticipated to take effect as the year came to an end.

Instead, fighting has broken out between the two sides in Aleppo, in the city’s northern part.

Later, they both agreed to end the fighting and blamed one another for it.

The SDF’s integration with the army was supposed to be the result of that agreement, but it is stalled in terms of how it should be implemented.

This new hostility comes as Damascus is confronted with additional threats, including ISIL (ISIS), recurrent conflicts with the Druze community, and ongoing Israeli attacks.

What does Syria’s complex security situation, which came a year after Bashar al-Assad’s fall, mean?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests

Researcher at Chatham House, Haid Haid

Steven Heydemann, Smith College’s director of Middle East Studies and Professor,