VICE News: "'The Regime Can't Be Trusted': Inside Syria's Aleppo as a Shaky Truce Begins"

New from me and Avi Asher-Schapiro at VICE News:

Aleppo has a new truce, but only after weeks of bloodshed. We spoke to survivors on both sides, plus reps of local rebel brigades and Jabhat al-Nusrah who talked about the city’s deadly shelling and the Nusrah presence in the city’s eastern half that’s been snarling up a new deal.

https://news.vice.com/article/aleppo-syria-bashar-al-assad-regime-russia-united-states-nusra-front-truce

War on the Rocks: "The Tangled Web of the Syrian Jihad"

New: I review Charles Lister’s The Syrian Jihad for War on the Rocks.

The Tangled Web of the Syrian Jihad

The Daily Beast: "One Kurdish Neighborhood in the Crossfire"

New from me on The Daily Beast:

While most of Syria got a ceasefire, Aleppo’s Kurdish al-Sheikh Maqsoud got two months of violence. Rebels and Kurdish forces each claim the other started the running battle on the edge of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, al-Sheikh Maqsoud’s civilians have been dying under apparently indiscriminate shelling – and now, Kurds allege, a chemical weapons strike – with no end in sight.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/15/did-syrian-rebels-gas-kurds-in-aleppo.html

VICE News: "Syrian Fighters Say the Ceasefire Is Getting Shakier and Shakier"

New from me on VICE News:

Syria is caught in a sort of half-war limbo. The internationally sponsored ceasefire remains in effect nationwide, but isolated clashes across the country seems to be escalating, and there are fears that a battle south of Aleppo city may be spiraling out of control.

But even as violence ticks up, it seems no one thinks the ceasefire will actually end. So long as Russia and the U.S. remain vested in a political solution, sources say, Syrians are locked in a war that’s mostly off, partially on.

https://news.vice.com/article/syrian-fighters-say-the-ceasefire-is-shakier-and-shakier

VICE News: "Rebels Ignored the Islamic State in South Syria, and It's Come Back to Haunt Them"

New from me and Avi Asher-Schapiro at VICE News:

Southern rebels have mostly been ignoring their local proto-ISIS creeps – in part, they say, because the US and their other state backers told them to. But now ISIS has come for them, and they're realizing they made a mistake.

https://news.vice.com/article/rebels-ignored-the-islamic-state-in-south-syria-and-its-come-back-to-haunt-them

World Politics Review: "Separating Nusra Front From Syria’s Rebels Is Easier Said Than Done"

New from me on World Politics Review:

Syria’s ceasefire has made clear the growing rift between the country’s mainstream opposition and Jabhat al-Nusrah, al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. But at the same time, it's also highlighted how Nusrah it tangled up in and dependent on the opposition. It turns out that Nusrah is a symbiote – it can only succeed when it is attached to a Syrian opposition at war.

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/18405/separating-nusra-front-from-syria-s-rebels-is-easier-said-than-done

The Daily Beast: "Al-Qaeda’s Screwing up in Syria"

New from me on The Daily Beast:

New static between Jabhat al-Nusrah and mainstream Syrian rebels and a half-tell-all, half-anti-Nusrah jeremiad by the son of the founder of modern jihadism have embroiled the Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate in new controversy. Now opposition Syrians are debating Nusrah's place in the rebellion and re-litigating some of the grimier episodes in north Syria's recent history.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/05/al-qaeda-s-screwing-up-in-syria.html

War on the Rocks: "Are CIA-Backed Syrian Rebels Really Fighting Pentagon-Backed Syrian Rebels?"

New from me on War on the Rocks:

Everyone, take a breath. CIA-backed Syrian rebels are not fighting Pentagon-backed Syrian rebels.

http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/are-cia-backed-syrian-rebels-really-fighting-pentagon-backed-syrian-rebels/

VICE News: "The Syrian Ceasefire Is Held Together by an Unlikely Group of Frenemies — and WhatsApp"

New from me on VICE News:

It's been clear for a minute that Syria's ceasefire has brought violence way down nationwide. But I spoke to diplomats involved and Syrians on the ground, and it turns out that in addition to the overall reduction of violence, they've also managed to shut down specific ceasefire violations with help from WhatsApp and hustle. (I know, I was surprised, too.)

https://news.vice.com/article/the-americans-russians-and-the-un-are-keeping-syrias-shaky-ceasefire-afloat-with-whatsapp-text-messages

VICE News: "How Five Years of War Has Fractured Syria Into at Least Four States"

New from me and Avi Asher-Schapiro at VICE News:

After five years of war, Syria is split into parts that are irreconcilable – and inseparable.

https://news.vice.com/article/hold-for-tues-9am-gmt-how-five-years-of-war-has-fractured-syria-into-at-least-four-states

World Politics Review: "PKK Links, Nusra Parallels Make Syrian Kurds a Troubling U.S. Partner"

New from me on World Politics Review:

At least on this, Erdogan is right: The U.S. government’s absurd, untenable denials of YPG-PKK links are – surprise – absurd and untenable.

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/18201/pkk-links-nusra-parallels-make-syrian-kurds-a-troubling-u-s-partner

VICE News: "A Ceasefire Is Beginning in Syria — Except Where It Won't"

New from me on VICE News:

With a nationwide ceasefire set to go into effect tonight, there’s still little clarity on who it will actually cover – so at least in northern Syria, people just assume they’ll be bombed.

https://news.vice.com/article/a-ceasefire-is-beginning-in-syria-except-where-it-wont

Syria:Direct Interview

New two-part interview with me at Syria:Direct:

"Sam Heller on this moment in Syria: 'Building towards a soft partition,'" 24 February 2016.

"Sam Heller: 'Fighting over towns that exist in name only,'" 25 February 2016.

VICE News: "The Battle for Aleppo Shows That US Strategy in Syria Is in Tatters"

New from me on VICE News:

As fighting in north Aleppo rages out of control, all the things that don't make sense about U.S. strategy to combat ISIS in Syria are all not making sense, all at once.

https://news.vice.com/article/the-battle-for-aleppo-shows-that-us-strategy-in-syria-is-in-tatters

World Politics Review: "Handing Syria to Russia Would Inflame Jihadism Abroad"

New from me on World Politics Review:

So all the West cares about in Syria is counterterrorism? Well, here’s what would a regime victory would do to jihadism, inside and outside the country.

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/17934/handing-syria-to-russia-would-inflame-jihadism-abroad

VICE News: "The Syrian Regime Is Close to a Victory That Could Turn the War"

New from me on VICE News:

The Syrian regime just cut rebels’ main Aleppo supply line, and it’s a disaster for the opposition.

https://news.vice.com/article/the-syrian-regime-is-close-to-a-victory-that-could-turn-the-war

VICE News: "Syria Peace Talks in Geneva Get Suspended Even Before Really Beginning"

New from me on VICE News:

Syria peace talks in Geneva have already flamed out. A guide to the main players and the basic disconnect that stopped negotiations before they could start:

https://news.vice.com/article/syria-peace-talks-in-geneva-get-suspended-even-before-really-beginning

VICE News: "Faced With A Russian Onslaught, Syrian Rebels Are Calling for Help From All Muslims"

New from me on VICE News:

Russian and Iranian intervention has turned the military balance in Syria’s civil war, and rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime are struggling to cope. Some rebels have decided they urgently need more men – Syrian or not – and have issued calls to arms not just to able-bodied Syrians, but to the entire Muslim nation. But while Syrians in the opposition agree the military situation is dire, they disagree on whether they want a new wave of foreign fighters, especially after many of those who came before went nuts and joined ISIS.

https://news.vice.com/article/faced-with-a-russian-onslaught-syrian-rebels-are-calling-for-help-from-all-muslims

War on the Rocks: "A Cause for All Turks: Turkey and Syria's Turkmen Rebels"

New from me and S.G. Grimaldi on War on the Rocks:

The plight of Syria’s Turkmen minority has rallied groups across Turkey’s political spectrum, from pan-Islamists to hard-right Turkish nationalists. This mobilization is getting needed support to civilians inside Syria – but it may also be reshaping Turkish politics, as advocacy for the Turkmen helps to mainstream organizations that had been on the country’s political fringe.

http://warontherocks.com/2016/01/a-cause-for-all-turks-turkey-and-syrias-turkmen-rebels/

World Politics Review: "Why Diplomatic Talks to End Syria’s Civil War Will Fail—Again"

New from me on World Politics Review:

Everyone is currently very excited about negotiations between Syria’s regime and opposition to resolve the country’s brutal war. But maybe don’t be? Because talks aren’t going to work, come on.

https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/17701/why-diplomatic-talks-to-end-syria-s-civil-war-will-fail-again