

The promise of reform, liberty, and democracy kindled by the Arab Spring in early 2011 were soon gushed by an orgy of inter-ethnic and sectarian violence in Syria. After more than six years of fighting, the Syrian Civil War seems no closer to a conclusion. The power vacuum opened up by the weakening of the Assad Regime was quickly filled by Islamic extremist factions, most notably the Islamic State in the Levant and Syria (ISIS), the world's first "terrorism state." The Syrian Conflict spilled out of Syria's borders; its ramifications are deeply felt in Washington, Moscow, Baghdad, and Brussels today.
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Digital spaces became a battle-ground and a weapon in the Syrian Civil war. From Twitter and Youtube based reporting which uncovered the horrors perpetrated by the Assad Regime against its people to the use of the Internet as a powerful recruiting tool for ISIS, digital sources are crucial to understanding the progress of the Syrian Conflict and its global ramifications.