Russia Is Transforming the Syrian Civil War Into ‘Game of Thrones’ on Crack

As Russia deepens its military footprint in Syria, the country's dizzying constellation of rebel groups are scrambling to adjust — and it's not clear who will come out on top.

The Islamic State insurgency (IS) has taken advantage of Russia's airstrikes to expand its territory, al Qaeda-aligned groups at war with IS are positioning themselves as the best hope of expelling the new foreign invaders, and the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) may be flirting with a Russian alliance.

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“It's Game of Thrones on crack,” said Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and senior editor of the website The Long War Journal. “It's becoming harder and harder to keep track of the strategic imperative of each group.”

“In some ways al Nusra and its allies are trying to harness the effort against Russia to build more momentum for their movement,” Joscelyn added. “They say, 'We are taking the fight to the Russians.'”

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