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US sailors conduct routine maintenance on a jet blast deflector on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on July 9, 2025. (US Navy)
Middle East
Middle East
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Syrians living in Turkey celebrate with opposition flags after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey. (Burak Kara via Getty Images)
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A crucifix is pictured outside the Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Aleppo, Syria, on December 12, 2024. (Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)
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(Screenshot via Fox Business)
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(Screenshot via Fox News)
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People celebrate at Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, on December 8, 2024. (Louai Beshara/AFP via Getty Images)
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Turkish soldiers on a tank sit opposite the town of Ain al-Arab, Syria, on October 11, 2014. (Aris Messinis via Getty Images)
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Israeli soldiers receive a briefing near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 5, 2024, in Southern Israel. (Amir Levy via Getty Images)
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A poison hazard danger sign is seen in the town of Khan Shaykun, Syria, on April 5, 2017. (Ogun Duru/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, is welcomed by supporters at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, on December 8, 2024. (Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images)
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A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service raises the victory gesture as others hold upside-down the black flag of the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq, on June 30, 2017. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
Experts
James Barnett
Research Fellow
Michael Doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
