How will Syria deal with its growing security challenges?

Inside StoryRenewed fighting between army and SDF highlights volatility.As the year comes to an end, a deal between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was expected to come into force.Instead, fighting has erupted between the two sides in the northern city of Aleppo.They later agreed to stop the fighting, while blaming each other for the violence.That deal was supposed to lead to the SDF integrating with the army, but it is stalling on how that should be implemented.This renewed tension comes as Damascus faces other threats, ranging from ISIL (ISIS) to recurrent conflicts with the Druze community and continuing attacks by Israel.So what does this complex security situation mean for Syria, a year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad?Presenter: Dareen AbughaidaGuestsHaid Haid – Researcher at Chatham HouseSteven Heydemann – Professor and Middle East Studies programme director at Smith CollegeOmer Ozkizilcik – Nonresident fellow for the Syria project in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programmePublished On 23 Dec 2025