The Pentagon briefs the media on strikes against Assad’s chemical weapons facilities.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
A recent intervention by the US, the UK and France is only part of a far broader – and deadlier – campaign.
EPA/Youssef Badawi
April 13, 2018
Scott Lucas , University of Birmingham ; Alpaslan Ozerdem , Coventry University ; Balsam Mustafa , University of Birmingham ; Beverley Milton-Edwards , Queen's University Belfast ; Cengiz Gunes , The Open University ; Edward Wastnidge , The Open University ; Moritz Pieper , University of Salford ; Natasha Ezrow , University of Essex , dan Simon J Smith , Staffordshire University
The Syrian conflict is a war of many sides. Here's a rundown of the key players.
EPA/US Navy
The legal standards for military intervention are complicated and highly specific. It's not clear an attack on Syria would meet them.
The UN Security Council has proved powerless to stop Assad’s use of chemical agents.
EPA/Peter Foley
Nothing the world has done has stopped Bashar al-Assad's regime from using chemical weapons – but it's imperative to keep trying.
Memories of pre-invasion Iraq live on.
EPA/Ali Abbas
After the US invasion brought their dictator down, Iraqis' everyday lives were marked by chaos and violence.
Hellraiser: John Bolton at the UN, 2006.
EPA/Peter Foley
Reportedly passed over for secretary of state because of his moustache, John Bolton has made it into Donald Trump's administration at last.
EPA/Ahmed Jalil
Coalition forces are careful about how they report civilian deaths. And we think war is painless, as a result.
EPA/KCNA
Thanks to South Korea, there is a chance for peace with North Korea. Whether the Trump administration can take it is another matter.
Watching from the south.
EPA/Jeon Heon-kyun
A year ago, productive north-south talks seemed inconceivable – but with the US tripping over its own feet, things are changing.
EPA/Justin Lane
Donald Trump doesn't have one foreign policy – he has several, and they all clash.
Is Donald Trump really the one setting the direction of US security policy?
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Mounting evidence suggests we are so mesmerised by the theatre around Donald Trump that we have lost sight of how the US security establishment wields power.
With artificial intelligence weapons on both sides, are we in a new cold war?
Dim Dimich/Shutterstock.com
As tensions between the US and Russia escalate, both sides are developing technological capabilities, including artificial intelligence that could be used in conflict.
China is increasingly viewed by the United States as a full-spectrum adversary.
Shutterstock
The contestation of Asia will continue this year, with many countries facing internal and external battles.
Turkish troops prepare to go after US-backed Kurdish forces.
EPA/Sedat Suna
Turkey's priorities in Syria just don't match the US's – and its increasingly authoritarian domestic politics don't help.
Protesting the Trump administration’s decision in Bethlehem.
EPA/Abed Al Hashlamoun
With a single cut in donations to a UN agency, Donald Trump has abandoned another norm of US foreign policy. The consequences could be disastrous.
Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
An insight into Iranian media and public opinion in the aftermath of Donald Trump's speech decertifying the 2015 Iran Nuclear deal.
EPA/Michael Reynolds
Without a strategy or a legal case to legitimate the use of force, the US is endangering crucial alliances and civilian lives.
President Xi Jinping is cracking down on corruption in the Chinese government. But could it just be a power play?
Reuters/Damir Sagolj
The Chinese Communist Party has disciplined more than a million officials since Xi took power in 2012. What is going on?
Flickr: Pedro Szekely
Speaking with: Professor Bates Gill on Australia’s changing relationship with China.
The Conversation , CC BY-ND 36,5 MB (download)
William Isdale speaks with Bates Gill on the importance of Australia's relationship with China and how best to navigate the sometimes complex alliance.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Oct. 5, 2017.
AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin
When it comes to foreign policy, Saudi Arabia has recently become far more aggressive. A historian of the modern Middle East sees three possible causes for the shift.