Fathom – Syria

Book Review | Erdogan’s Empire: Turkey and the Politics of the Middle East

By Simon Waldman
Soner Cagaptay is the director of the Turkish Research Programme at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy... Read more > March 2020

The Last Dove: an interview with Ehud Olmert

By Tal Kra-Oz
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was one of Ariel Sharon’s closest political allies; in 2005 the two... Read more > February 2020

Book Review | After ISIS: America, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East

By Brandon Marlon
We’ve encountered the toponyms repeatedly in the headlines: Sinjar. Raqqa. Kirkuk. Kobane. Baghuz. But we’ve done so from... Read more > December 2019

‘If we insist on 100 per cent of the land, we will end up like Lebanon: it will be an...

By Ephraim Sneh
Ephraim Sneh is a former Deputy Defence Minister of Israel. He was a member of the Knesset for... Read more > December 2019

Thucydides Goes to Washington: an interview with Michael Doran about US Grand Strategy in the Middle East

By Michael Doran
Michael Doran is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC. specialising in Middle East security... Read more > November 2019

Obama, Trump and the collapse of the American position in the Middle East

By Kyle Orton
The disastrous foreign policies of two presidents are bringing about the collapse of America’s position in the Middle... Read more > November 2019

Why Israel’s year of elections has left a foreign policy hangover

By Joshua Krasna
Joshua Krasna is a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Programme on the Middle East and a... Read more > October 2019

IsraelVotes2019 | What should be the priorities for the new government?

By Yossi Kuperwasser
Yossi Kuperwasser argues that whoever forms the next government should adopt a 'Yes, but' response to the expected... Read more > April 2019

Four strategic threats on Israel’s radar | a special briefing by former IDF intelligence head Amos Yadlin

By Amos Yadlin
Speaking at a private forum in late 2018, Director of the Institute for National Security Studies, Maj. Gen.... Read more > January 2019

‘The War Between Wars’: Israel vs Iran in Syria

By Yaakov Lappin
Yaakov Lappin is a Research Associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, and a military correspondent. In... Read more > october 2018

Book Review | Days of the Fall: A Reporter's Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars

By Michael Stephens
An eye witness to some of the most violent episodes in the history of both Iraq and Syria,... Read more > June 2018

Archive | Fathom Forum: Learning from Qassem Soleimani

By Jonathan Paris
Jonathan Paris argues that we underestimate the determination and the capacity of the Iranian regime to project power... Read more > May 2018

The space between the Iraq-Iran border and the Mediterranean Sea today constitutes a single arena of conflict, by Jonathan Spyer

By Jonathan Spyer
Jonathan Spyer is a fellow at the Middle East Forum and a freelance security analyst and correspondent for... Read more > February 2018

‘As Jews who experienced the Holocaust, we have a moral obligation to help our neighbours': Talking to ‘Lt Col. E’...

By Elhanan Miller
Since 2016 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has operated its Good Neighbour Project, which coordinates the transfer of... Read more > February 2018

After ISIS Symposium: Can ISIS really be defeated without legitimate local governance? | Kyle Orton

By Kyle Orton
Editorial Introduction to the Symposium: In this symposium, six experts – Kyle Orton, Aymenn al-Tamimi, Craig Whiteside, David... Read more > Autumn 2017

After ISIS Symposium: Where will ISIS regroup? | Ely Karmon

By Ely Karmon
Editorial Introduction to the Symposium: In this symposium, six experts – Kyle Orton, Aymenn al-Tamimi, Craig Whiteside, David... Read more > Autumn 2017

After ISIS Symposium: Will the counter-insurgency tactics used to defeat ISIS help it recruit new fighters? | Craig Whiteside

By Craig Whiteside
Editorial Introduction to the Symposium: In this symposium, six experts – Kyle Orton, Aymenn al-Tamimi, Craig Whiteside, David... Read more > Autumn 2017

After ISIS Symposium: Why ISIS will survive the loss of its 'Islamic State' | Aymenn al-Tamimi

By Aymenn al-Tamimi
Editorial Introduction to the Symposium: In this symposium, six experts – Kyle Orton, Aymenn al-Tamimi, Craig Whiteside, David... Read more > Autumn 2017

After ISIS Symposium: What is the scale of the threat to the UK from returning Jihadis? | David Wells

By David Wells
Editorial Introduction to the Symposium: In this symposium, six experts – Kyle Orton, Aymenn al-Tamimi, Craig Whiteside, David... Read more > Autumn 2017

Southern Syria: How to stop the Iranian plan for regional dominance

By Michael Herzog
Michael Herzog served as head of the IDF’s Strategic Planning Division and chief of staff to Israel’s minister... Read more > Autumn 2017

Book Review | The Shell

By Kyle Orton
In Syria, the West has been keen not to repeat the mistakes of Iraq — defined as being... Read more > Summer 2017

Fathom Forum | Gabrielle Rifkind: Fog of Peace: How to Prevent War

By Gabrielle Rifkind
Gabrielle Rifkind is director of the Oxford Process Programme at Oxford Research Group (ORG), an independent peace and... Read more > Spring 2017

Trump and the Middle East: Prospects and Tasks

By BICOM
At the 2016 BICOM-Jewish News Policy Conference, ‘UK-Israel Shared Strategic Challenges’, a panel of Middle East experts discussed... Read more > Winter 2016

Returning Jihadis: A Generational Threat

By Peter Neumann
Professor Peter Neumann’s new book Radicalised: New Jihadists and the Threat to the West, has been described as... Read more > Autumn 2016

‘Where is Syria going? A Round Table with Jonathan Spyer

By Jonathan Spyer
The Fathom editors hold a monthly invite-only round table discussion in our London office between a policy expert... Read more > Summer 2016

Can Israel remain secure in a world of Arab disintegration, American retreat, and Iranian ambition?

By Calev Ben-Dor
In a comprehensive and clear-sighted survey Fathom deputy editor Calev Ben-Dor assesses the implications of regional disintegration for... Read more > Spring 2016

Deterring Iran: Time for a new mindset

By Michael Herzog
As the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 goes into effect with the announcement of Implementation Day... Read more > Autumn 2015

Six steps to defeat ISIS

By Giora Eiland
Giora Eiland spoke to Fathom about six steps the coalition must take to defeat ISIS: cooperating with Russia,... Read more > Autumn 2015

The Syrian Cauldron – A View from Israel

By Michael Herzog
As Parliament is set to debate joining the coalition against ISIS in Syria, BICOM Senior Visiting Fellow Brig.... Read more > Autumn 2015

Is it Iran’s Middle East now?

By Jonathan Spyer
Leading regional expert Jonathan Spyer thinks not. While the single best organised and most aggressive alliance active currently... Read more > Autumn 2015

Symposium on Rabin's legacy – Ronen Hoffman

By Ronen Hoffman
This piece is from Fathom’s eBook The Life and Legacy of Yitzhak Rabin, which can be downloaded here.... Read more > Autumn 2015

Debating Michael Walzer’s 'Islamism and the Left'

By Michael Walzer
Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and one of... Read more > Summer 2015

JN-BICOM 2015 Conference: Collapse of Arab states and the rise of ISIL

By BICOM
A panel discussion on the collapse of Arab states and the rise of ISIL at the UK/Israel Shared Strategic... Read more > Summer 2015

JN-BICOM Conference: Discussion on Iran

By BICOM
A panel discussion on Iran at the UK/Israel Shared Strategic Challenges Conference. Participants were: Sir Richard Dalton (Chatham House),... Read more > Summer 2015

IS and the incoherence of Western policy

By Jonathan Spyer
The West wants to destroy IS but it has neither allies on the ground nor a grasp of... Read more > Autumn 2014

Reflections on the Middle East’s Christians in these strained times

By Habib C. Malik
Christians of the Middle East, whether free or captive to dhimmitude, have not readily identified with the travails... Read more > Autumn 2014

Why we keep getting the Middle East wrong

By Mordechai Kedar
Dr Mordechai Kedar spoke to a Fathom Forum in London in September 2014 about why so many Western... Read more > Autumn 2014

America’s Global Dilemma

By Ben Cohen
‘Reset,’ ‘Pivot,’ ‘Leading from Behind,’ ‘Red Lines,’ – the catchphrases of President Obama’s foreign policy are now often... Read more > Spring 2014

Time for a Revolution in Israel’s Global Engagement

By Gidi Grinstein and Daphna Kaufman
Israel needs a revolution in how it thinks about foreign relations. To meet huge external challenges it needs... Read more > Spring 2014

Disaster in the Levant: the Syrian Civil War in its fourth year

By Jonathan Spyer
Jonathan Spyer is one of the few policy experts to regularly visit the front lines in Syria. In... Read more > Spring 2014