When the Syrian people took to the streets in March 2011, nobody could have predicted that the ensuing crisis would become the largest international calamity in recent history. Syrians’ calls for freedom and justice, which rode the wave of revolutions in neighboring countries, have become enmeshed in a violent, protracted conflict that has changed the face of Syria and the course of politics in dozens of other states, doubtlessly influencing the way the world will deal with political, social, and humanitarian crises in the future.