The Syrian jihad presented invaluable opportunities for al-Qa`ida to establish what it had always sought: a popular, broadly representative jihadi resistance movement that could support the creation of an Islamic government presiding over an expanse of important territory. Jabhat al-Nusra assumed the mantle of responsibility in seeking to achieve this grand goal. And it did remarkably well, up to a point. As conflict dynamics evolved, however, the goal of transforming into a mass movement with social and political popularity became an increasingly distant objective. In its determination to aggressively achieve its grand goals, Jabhat al-Nusra prioritized localism over globalism, which as time passed, pushed its relationship with al-Qa`ida to the breaking point.