U.S. officials contend that Iran has lost Syria as a conduit to funnel weapons to regional proxies such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Iran-backed militias operating in Syria also could come under greater pressure and may not be able to operate in the country as they have over the past few years.

President Trump is eager to capitalize. He met in person with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on May 14, then followed up late last week by easing sanctions on Syria. Mr. Trump’s moves come despite deep misgivings among some in his administration and key allies, such as Israel, about Mr. al-Sharaa’s past ties to al Qaeda.

National Security Correspondent Ben Wolfgang offers a deep dive, reporting that Mr. Trump’s geopolitical calculus centers on the notion that a friendly Syria will help advance U.S. interests by potentially taking elements of the counterterrorism burden off U.S. forces operating in the region.

Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies joins the latest episode of the Threat Status weekly podcast for an exclusive interview discussing his recent trip to Ukraine, threats from Chinese cyberattacks and more.

On Ukraine, Mr. Montgomery said Washington has a critical role to play in either providing arms directly to Ukraine or indirectly through European nations or NATO. “They gotta have two things from us,” he says. “One is time-sensitive targeting. We provided that. It’s gotten better and better and better. It lets them see an attack coming farther out than their own intelligence agencies might provide. It comes from overhead imagery.”

“Trump cut it off after the disastrous Oval Office meeting [with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] for about seven to 10 days, and it hurt. It’s back now. It needs to stay back,” Mr. Montgomery says. “The second thing they need is access to the U.S. defense industrial base. … America is not going to give them anything. But will America sell them — or Europeans on behalf of the Ukrainians — the munitions necessary?”

The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram is surging again in Nigeria, which is home to Africa’s largest economy and is plagued by ongoing Christian-Muslim strife and tribal militancy. The Associated Press reports that a resurgence of Boko Haram attacks is shaking the country’s northeast, as Islamic extremists have repeatedly overrun military outposts, mined roads with bombs and raided civilian communities since the start of the year.

Boko Haram took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. The conflict, now Africa’s longest struggle with militancy, has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors and has resulted in the death of around 35,000 civilians and the displacement of more than 2 million others, according to the United Nations.

The current surge finds Boko Haram fighters operating under two factions, one of which is backed by the Islamic State group and is known as the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. A report this year by the Institute for the Study of War compared ISWAP to the Islamic State Somalia Province, asserting that the two groups “play critical roles in [the Islamic State’s] global administrative network.”

Although Beijing and Moscow pose the most “active and persistent” cyber threats, according to U.S. intelligence, Pyongyang is “demonstrating with artificial intelligence just how dangerous hackers can be,” Mathew Ha and Annie Fixler of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies write in an op-ed for The Washington Times.

“North Korean hackers are using AI deepfakes to trick recruiters and human resource personnel at some of the largest companies around the world, as well as cybersecurity firms themselves,” they write.

“Employed by unwitting Western companies, these hackers earn six-figure salaries, money that feeds into Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons programs,” write Mr. Ha and Ms. Fixler. “They also plant malware they can use to steal data and extort the companies when and if they get exposed. As North Korean cybercriminal operations become more sophisticated, American companies will continue falling victim unless the U.S. government helps them better protect themselves.”

Low-intensity conflicts are “infamous for grinding along in deadening ways, but the liveliest hope of this moment is that the PKK terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party have announced that they would finally turn in their weapons and quit,” writes Christopher C. Harmon, a full-time professor at the Institute of World Politics.

“No one is sure how PKK disarmament and demobilization will proceed, and innumerable devils hide among such details,” writes Mr. Harmon. “Given that no country in the region has volunteered a homeland, the best option for Kurdish nationalists is to find their place and their peace within the big communities they have around them within Syria, Iraq and Turkey. This formerly lethal group should pursue a peaceful path.”

He adds: “After years of war, dislocation and political persecution, the Kurdish people have earned the right to begin a new chapter built on an optimistic view of the future that embraces peace and democracy.”

• May 28-30 — Imagine AI Live ‘25, Imagine AI Live

• May 30-June 1 — IISS Shangri-La Dialogue (Singapore), International Institute for Strategic Studies

• June 2-4 — AI+ Expo, Special Competitive Studies Project

• June 3 — CNAS 2025 National Security Conference | America’s Edge: Forging the Future, Center for a New American Security

• June 25 — The New IC, Intelligence and National Security Alliance