Bashar al-Assad’s regime has exploited Christians for years, and his government has effectively handed the country’s security to Shia militias that have shown little regard for Christians.

HBO’s The Final Year traverses the globe, from Africa to the Arctic, Havana to Hanoi, but it is in Syria where the cockfight personified by Samantha Power and Ben Rhodes climaxes. Indeed, President Obama claims that “on no other issue was there such a split” between them.

Turkey’s current invasion of Afrin, Syria, is similar to its invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974.

So far, the United States has failed to articulate any clear strategy in Syria. It is not even clear who our allies are anymore.

For now, the border between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights remains the most important border in the Middle East—a veritable dam holding back the tidal wave of Iranian ambition.

In October of last year, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the United States, liberated the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State, who had proclaimed it to be the capital of its caliphate. Four months later, NATO member Turkey has opened a military campaign in the Syrian region Afrin against the same Kurds who led the fight against ISIS.

Discriminatory policies and negligence within the United Nations are aggravating a crisis among Christians in the Middle East.

Russia, Syria, and Iran have successfully defied US interests in the Middle East. It will take significant and aggressive measures to separate these allies.

Destroying a Nation: The Civil War in Syria by Nikolaos van Dam does not give a blow-by-blow account of the war. Instead, it explains underpinning factors which shaped the course of the Syrian Civil War and offers potential solutions to the ongoing conflict.