Charles Lister is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of the book “The Syrian Jihad.” https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/contributor/charles-lister/rss en Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs ISIS Fri, 28 Apr 2017 12:19:56 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2017/04/28/u-s-counter-terrorism-policy-options-in-syria-after-the-missile-strikes https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2017/04/28/u-s-counter-terrorism-policy-options-in-syria-after-the-missile-strikes In testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the wake of the U.S. strike on a Syrian government airstrike, Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Charles Lister explores options for the U.S. counter-terrorism policy against ISIS, al-Qaida and Shiite militias in Syria. Government & Pro-Government Forces Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Fri, 30 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/05/30/reading-between-the-lines-syrias-shifting-dynamics-or-more-of-the-same https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/05/30/reading-between-the-lines-syrias-shifting-dynamics-or-more-of-the-same Brookings Doha’s Charles Lister examines Syria’s changing battle lines — and momentum. Government & Pro-Government Forces Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Wed, 21 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/05/21/dynamic-stalemate-surveying-syrias-military-landscape https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/05/21/dynamic-stalemate-surveying-syrias-military-landscape Charles Lister of Brookings Doha examines Syria’s ongoing stalemate. Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Thu, 10 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/04/10/american-anti-tank-weapons-appear-in-syrian-rebel-hands https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/04/10/american-anti-tank-weapons-appear-in-syrian-rebel-hands “This appears to be an extremely important development,” writes Charles Lister in the Huffington Post. ISIS Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/02/03/al-qaida-disavows-isis https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/02/03/al-qaida-disavows-isis This post appears courtesy of Charles Lister and Brookings Doha Center. . ISIS Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/01/09/syrias-new-rebel-front https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2014/01/09/syrias-new-rebel-front A new and dangerous front appears to have opened in Syria. Since early January 3, members of three militant fronts – the largely nationalist Syrian Revolutionaries Front; the moderately Islamist Jaish al-Mujahideen; and the Salafist Islamic Front (IF) – have engaged in sustained clashes with the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Tue, 24 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/12/24/the-next-phase-of-the-syrian-conflict https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/12/24/the-next-phase-of-the-syrian-conflict U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford confirmed on Wednesday what many had predicted, that Syria’s Islamic Front (IF) had refused to hold meetings with representatives of the United States. ISIS Fri, 27 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/09/27/charles-lister-syrian-militant-islamists-denounce-snc-and-form-islamic-alliance https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/09/27/charles-lister-syrian-militant-islamists-denounce-snc-and-form-islamic-alliance In a video issued late on September 24, the chief political leader of Liwa al-Tawhid, Abdulaziz Salameh, speaking on behalf of 12 other Islamist militant groups in Syria, condemned the “unrepresentative” Western-backed Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and called explicitly for “an Islamic framework based on sharia [Islamic law].”. ISIS Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Wed, 11 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Charles Lister https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/09/11/syrias-insurgency-beyond-good-guys-and-bad-guys https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/09/11/syrias-insurgency-beyond-good-guys-and-bad-guys U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told the Senate on September 4 that “bad guys” and “extremists” make up between 15 and 25 percent of the Syrian insurgency. The reality is far more complicated – with enormous significance for the prospect of U.S. military action.