Ft. speaker Uri Marantz, PhD. Candidate, Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Ottawa

The United States and Israel share a “special relationship,” a pivotal alliance with major implications for a region beset by civil war. Although the US and Israel share the same geopolitical orientation, their strategic objectives and military interventions in Syria – one of the worst civil wars in modern history – have not always been compatible. This presentation explores the history of the US-Israel alliance, places it within the context of the Arab Spring uprisings, and unpacks the alliance politics of foreign intervention in the Syrian civil war since 2011.