While the victory against Bashar Assad’s forces is a triumph, the jihadist-turned-statesman who is now in charge has a lengthy to-do list.

Russia’s abandonment of the Assad regime to marshal more resources for the fight against Ukraine vividly illustrates that Putin is ready to sacrifice everything for total victory in the war. Although Putin tries to portray himself as a realist, he has become consumed with Ukraine, to the exclusion of almost all other foreign policy imperatives.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli troops will remain in Syrian territory indefinitely, blurring the border with Israel's northern neighbor.

Assad, old alliances have crumbled, and global powers are figuring out their relationships with Syria’s new de facto leaders.

Years of strife ruined the energy sector, battered the currency and strangled growth. The West must ease financial controls to help the economy, experts say.

President Trump’s dilemma in Syria is to let a terrorist state emerge at the heart of the Middle East on his watch or to violate his campaign promise of “no more foreign wars."

Qatar and Jordan are the latest in the region to send delegations to meet with Syria’s new leaders, including Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham.

"I believe there will be violent fighting, the end of which we do not know," a top Syrian Democratic Council official told Newsweek.

Will he walk the walk and not just talk the talk? And if he doesn’t win in the elections, will he peacefully stand aside for whoever does win?” one analyst said.

Sham, or HTS, made a lightning assault across Syria. Where did the rebels get the cash, weapons and training that made their takeover possible?

The Pentagon announced the US currently has “approximately 2,000” troops in Syria, more than double the previously disclosed number of 900, a Defense Department spokesperson said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The first U.S. diplomats to visit Syria since President Bashar Assad's ouster earlier this month are in Damascus to hold talks with the country's new leadership and seek information on the whereabouts