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 geopolitical interests, and a wide array of sub-state actors.
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 in the country.
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.