State sponsorship of terrorism connects major contemporary issues of international relations such as intra- and interstate conflict as well as third-party intervention. The author examines Syria’s relations with Palestinian Fatah, Turkish-Kurdish PKK, and Lebanese Hizballah, between 1964 and 2006. In order to understand why states choose to form alliances with terrorist organizations, the author links international and domestic security policy challenges with the formal and informal limitations political leaders take into consideration when adjusting to them.