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Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below.***JihadistsIn the past two weeks, the jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham conducted an offensive against the Assad regime that led to the latter’s downfall. This surprising event has excited not only elements within al-Qaeda’s branches but also the Taliban and Muslim Brotherhood, to name a few organizations. Parts of Syria remain under the control of the Turkish proxy Syrian National Army (in northern Aleppo and northern Raqqa governorates) and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (in
