Robert Danin, Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Edward Husain, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, discuss the crisis in Syria, the threat of jihad, and the international community's response to the situation with CFR.org's Toni Johnson.

Al-Qaeda may become the Free Syrian Army's most potent weapon against the Assad regime, but its collaboration with rebel forces poses serious risks for the country's future, says CFR's Ed Husain.

Leslie H. Gelb says Kofi Annan's mission in Damascus was doomed from the start. Obama should not try to fill the void—but rather leave that mostly to Syria's neighbors.

In his latest exclusive dispatch from Deir el-Zour province, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad meets fighters who have left the Free Syrian Army for the discipline and ideology of global jihad.

A post-Assad Syria will likely create distinct challenges for each of its neighbors, including creating a major loss for Iran, says Michael Young of Lebanon's Daily Star.

Following a UN Security Council veto, the United States should bypass the UN to pressure the Assad regime and support the Syrian opposition, writes CFR President Richard N. Haass.

Intensification of the violence in Syria presents renewed cause for military intervention, either to protect innocent civilian lives or to potentially police or enforce a peace agreement or political settlement, says CFR's Paul Stares.

Elliott Abrams discusses the astonishing American inactivity as Syria crumbles.

Russian President Putin, mistrustful of Western motives, is likely to resist pressure to commit to stronger sanctions against Syria's government, says expert Dimitri Simes.

Richard N. Haass says, "Intervention in Syria need not be defined as either armed intervention or intervention with arms. There is much more that the world can and should be doing to bring about the removal of the Assad regime."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave these remarks at the July 6, 2012 Friends of the Syrian People Ministerial meeting in Paris, France.

The West may no longer be the main target for terrorist organizations; turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has given rise to an increased number of more locally-focused attacks in the last year.

Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan gave these remarks at the meeting of the Action Group on Syria in Geneva, Switzerland on June 30, 2012.

The UN-backed Action Group for Syria released this communiqué on June 30, 2012.

Secretary of State Clinton gave this press conference following the meeting of the Action Group on Syria, on June 30, 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland.

UN Security Council Resolution 2052 regarding extension of the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) monitoring the Israel-Syria ceasefire until December 31, 2012 was adopted by the UN Security Council on June 27, 2012.

Ed Husain argues, "Russia should see that unless Assad gives way, the opposition will become more radicalized and increasingly jihadi."

Max Boot argues that Russian assistance to Syria means it's time for the United States to change its policy.

Leslie H. Gelb discusses the elections in Egypt and why the United States can't predict, let alone control, events in the Mideast.

He was an unpromising youth who gained power by accident. Today he's the Arab world's most notorious dictator. But who really is this man? The Financial Times' Roula Khalaf profiles Bashar al-Assad.