Extremism Programs News Today

Syria’s multifaceted crisis is in its 12th year and shows no sign of resolution. Yet despite more than a decade of debilitating violence and regime brutality, the original ideals of the peaceful uprising that erupted in 2011 also persist, as protesters in Suwayda and other regions demonstrate on a daily basis. This and many other realities underline the unique nature of Syria’s crisis — fueled or shaped as it is by the regime, overlapping and hostile ideological currents, external geopolit...

The catastrophic situation in Syria since 2011 has made the country one of the world’s largest recipients of humanitarian assistance, and the vast majority of these multi-billion-dollar aid flows to regime-held areas is facilitated by the United Nations. A new investigative report by the Syrian Legal Development Program (SLDP) and the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks (OPEN) has examined how private companies involved in human rights abuses benefit from the U.N.’s procurements i...

The nighttime raid was a rare operation inside Syrian government territory, a Kurdish security official said.

Joe Biden seems to be following in Barack Obama's footsteps, sacrificing US interests for higher-priority concerns.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute about what the U.S. strike in Syria Wednesday night means for the future of ISIS.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute about what the U.S. strike in Syria Wednesday night means for the future of ISIS.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute about what the U.S. strike in Syria Wednesday night means for the future of ISIS.

Helicopter-borne Special Operations troops carried out the risky predawn commando assault.

One of the most senior ISIS leaders ever to be taken alive is now reported to be in custody. The U.S. had offered a reward of up to $5 million for his capture.

Senior Fellow, Director of Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs Charles Lister is a senior fellow and the Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism Programs at the Middle East Institute. His work focuses primarily on the conflict in Syria and on issues of terrorism and insurgency across the Levant. Prior to this, Lister was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Qatar and a Senior Consultant to the multinationally-backed Syria Track II Dialogue In...