Abstract

Editor’s Introduction The major armed conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan continued to rage in 2017. The strengthening of government forces in Syria and Iraq fostered hope that the conflicts were moving towards a conclusion, although fatalities in both remained high. The conflict in Yemen became appreciably more fierce and there was no sign of Afghanistan’s conflict becoming less bloody or closer to an end. Many of the world’s other conflicts, likewise, showed little sign of coming to an end. In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad’s regime recovered territory throughout the year, setting its sights on heavily populated, rebel-held enclaves across the country and decimating the rebellion through brutal warfare (including chemical weapons and forced displacement), Russian firepower and foreign personnel. The regime also put greater effort into the campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in service of its race for territory in eastern Syria against the United States-supported and Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, which seized major cities and oilfields. Regional powers Turkey, Iran and Israel increased their operations and ground presence in an effort to shape the battlefield. The risk of direct confrontation between them increased. The government of Iraq, with broad international