Episode 16: Tangled Tensions; Is Syria the Next Threshing Floor On the Counter-Terrorism Landscape?

Guests Gen (Retired) Joseph L. Votel, and Dr. Colin P. Clarke join host Dave Brown and co-host Dr. Heidi Lane to discuss the U.S. mission in Syria and the implications for U.S. counter-terrorism in the region and continuing to prevent the re-emergence of ISIS.

Articles:

• In Syria, America Should Be Ruthlessly Focused on the Islamic State, J. Votel & E. Dent, WOTR, 17 Jan 2025
• Trump Administration’s Counterterrorism Policy Should Begin at Golan Heights, C. Costa & C. Clarke, Cipher Brief, 8 Jan 2025

See Also:

• The Danger of Abandoning Our Partners J. Votel & E. Dent, The Atlantic, 8 Oct 2019
• How to Protect America After the Syria Withdrawal J. Votel & E. Dent, The Atlantic, 21 Oct 2019

See More:

• Beyond Assad: The Rise of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Syria’s Uncertain Future, R. Rossoukh, Brandeis University, 18 Dec 2024
• Israel demands complete demilitarisation of southern Syria, S. Usher, BBC News, 24 Feb 2025
• Squeezed between Turkey and Sharaa, Syria's Kurds face stark choices, A. Zaman, Al-Monitor, 13 Feb 2025
• Post-Paris Steps in Syria Could Be Decisive, D. Margolin & A. Zelin, Washington Institute, 28 Feb 2025
• The Syria Breakdown, Episode Four: Revolutionary Rebuilding and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), A. Zelin, Washington Institute, 28 Feb 2025

Guests:

Joseph L. Votel, General USA, (Retired); Retired four-star general in the U.S Army, and former commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Mar 2016 to Mar 2019, where he oversaw military operations across the region, including the campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He also served as the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). During his military career, Gen Votel gained extensive operational experience across the Middle East, the Levant, Central and South Asia, Northern Africa, and the Horn of Africa. Votel is a non-resident distinguished senior fellow on national security at the Middle East Institute.

Colin P. Clarke, Ph.D., Director of Research and Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Group (TSG), an intelligence and security consulting firm based in New York City. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter Terrorism (ICCT) - The Hague, and a non-resident Senior Fellow in the Program on National Security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). Prior to joining TSG, Clarke was a professor in the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He frequently appears in the media as a subject expert on global security, conflict, and terrorism, and is the author of several books, including After the Caliphate: The Islamic State and the Future Terrorist Diaspora.