Accidental Allies

Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Fellow at The Washington Institute, specializing in the military and security affairs of Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and the Gulf Arab states. Dr. Knights has traveled widely in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and the Gulf states, and regularly briefs U.S. government policymakers, congressional committees, and U.S. military officers on regional security affairs. He has embedded in numerous partner force operations with local military and security agencies on the ground in Iraq, the Gulf states, and Yemen.Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a political analyst, journalist and coauthor (with Harriet Allsopp) of The Kurds of Northern Syria. He currently writes for Kurdistan 24 and has also written reports and analysis for the Kurdish daily Rudaw, Al-Monitor, Middle East Eye, Daily Beast, Washington Post, a variety of think tank publications such as The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Jamestown Foundation, Carnegie Endowment, the Atlantic Council, and others.

• PREFACEGLOSSARYSUMMARY OF FINDINGS1.CHRONOLOGY OF THE CONFLICT IN NORTHEASTERN SYRIA, 20111-20202.BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE SDF3.SUPPORTING FROM AFAR: KOBANI TO AL-HAWL4.ON THE GROUND: SHADADI TO MANBIJ5.SCALING UP: THE RAQQA CAMPAIGN6.OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE: THE DEIR AL-ZOUR CAMPAIGN7.STABILIZATION “BY, WITH AND THROUGH” THE SDF8.ASSESSING AMERICA’S “BY, WITH AND THROUGH” CAMPAIGN IN NORTHEAST SYRIAANNEX 1: ANNOTATED ROSTER OF BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS IN NORTHEAST SYRIA, 2014-2020ANNEX 2: YPG/SDF CLAIMED COMBAT LOSSES IN 2013-2019Index