The war in Syria has attracted the attention of the entire world, sucking many nations into the fighting and creating millions of refugees who have fled their country in search of a better life. Many different rebel groups, some united and some unaligned, have fought to overthrow the government of dictator Bashar Al-Assad. The war has created numerous horrors, including the rise of the ultra-fundamentalist group ISIS, and has devastated the Syrian nation, people, and economy. As millions of refugees flee the violence, many nations are forced to decide what support they will give to these people—some opening borders and doors, others firmly shutting out refugees in the belief that they must preserve their own people, culture, and economy. What are the roots of this conflict and how did it come to involve so many regional and global powers? The war in Syria has produced a tangled web of alliances and enemies, supporters and detractors, which have turned a simple struggle against tyranny into a war of opposing ideologies. There will be more fighting before peace comes to Syria. Meanwhile the Syrian people must decide for themselves whether they will stay under the rule of Assad or flee the country as millions of their countrymen have, looking for a new future outside the borders of this war-torn region.