Success for al-Qaida in Syria?

This article considers how far one can describe al-Qaida’s experiences in Syria as a success. A common line of analysis has been that al-Qaida has been playing a more successful long-term game in Syria as opposed to its more aggressive rival, the Islamic State. This article examines that argument more closely through exploring the nature of the relationship between al-Qaida and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the latest successor initiative to the original Syrian al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. The author considers the viability of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s project and the future of al-Qaida in Syria, reaching a negative long-term prognosis.