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.

Surrounded by strategic threats and faced with an increasingly aggressive Iran, the security situation for both Israel and Christian communities in the Middle East has changed in an unpredictable and dangerous way.

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.

We as Christians are called to remember that “if one member suffers, all suffer together,” so we cannot forget these Iraqi Christian refugees.

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.

Determining when and where to serve “the interest of humanity” is not a science. In a broken world, American policymakers must seek the counsel of the heart and the head, aim for the achievable, and choose the least-bad option.