The contested province of Idlib has become a focus of the conflict, which has become increasingly violent and dangerous.
President Donald Trump has rapidly, and without warning to allies or even his own officials, shifted U.S. foreign policy in Syria.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
David Banks, American University School of International Service
In northern Syria, Trump has caused U.S. allies and rivals to view American commitments in a new, uncertain light. Other countries may now shift to depend less on the U.S., weakening national power.
U.S. forces are still in Syria, but their role has changed substantially in recent weeks.
AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad
Since the 1940s, Congress has largely let the president make decisions, while members of the House and Senate endorse or condemn those actions from the sidelines.
A B-61 bomb, like the ones stored at the US Incirlik Airbase in Turkey.
Flickr/Kelly Michals
Hanlie Booysen, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
To understand how Syria has become the theatre for proxy wars between international forces, one has to return to the Arab uprisings and Syria’s role as an outlier.
He said he’d do it, and he has.
Michael Reynolds/EPA
If states are permitted to determine when force is warranted, outside the existing legal framework, the legitimacy of that framework may be fatally undermined.
The absolute best at international intervention, believe him. So, so good at intervening.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
While the Syria strikes were clearly violating international law, using force to uphold the ban on chemical weapons is becoming acceptable in the international community.
Even if Syria’s armed conflict is somehow resolved, new proxy conflicts between regional actors are emerging on the country’s soil.
Until the jihadist rebel groups are wiped out, there will be more civilian casualties, like this man and young boy in Eastern Ghouta.
Reuters/Bassam Khabieh
Despite a devastating toll in the seven-year conflict, which has seen 400,000 people killed and six million displaced, there is no end in sight for the people of Syria.
Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University