Syria
Insider Testimony on Defections, Foreign Influence, the Fall of Aleppo, and the Regime’s Collapse
A native Syrian Shi‘i and former soldier reflects on his time in the Iranian-backed militia al-Ghalibun and the Syrian army, exposing corruption, disillusionment, and shifting sectarian dynamics in the wake of Assad’s downfall.
In Some Cases, Media Narratives Have Shifted to Focus on Pragmatism Rather Than Ideology, Portraying Engagement With Such Groups as a Necessary Evil Rather Than a Strategic Risk.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media, Which Oversees VOA, Should Revise Its Organization and Emphases—or Congress Must Do So
HTS Has Shown It Seeks to Establish Something Blending Arab Nationalism and Sunni Islamist Supremacy
The HTS Government Doesn’t Have Formal Control over All Syrian Land
Syrian Kurdish Leader Ilham Ahmed Says Israel Must Be Part of the Solution for Middle East Security
Erdoğan Perverts Turkish Nationalism to Distract from His Islamist Agenda and the Failure of His Financial Management
Europe’s Engagement with the New Syrian Leadership Has Been Notably Swift, Yet It Still Refuses to Recognise the Taliban
Kurdish Negotiators in Syria Must Prioritize Enforceable Agreements That Safeguard Their Interests
The Assad Regime Had No Intention of Reforming the Police State, and Had It Won the War, It Would Likely Have Become Even More Repressive
Inside Damascus, You Can Feel the Stark Absence of the State
One Often Finds the Armed Group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham Described as Either Being al-Qa ‘Ida or ‘al-Qa‘Ida-Linked’; This Is Simply Not the Case
The Old Dictatorship Was Gone. But Was a New, Islamist Regime in the Process of Being Formed?
Inside Syria’s Ancient Capital, a Lone Jewish Guardian Watches over Abandoned Properties While Islamist Rulers Patrol the Rubble of Historic Synagogues
How a Secret Intelligence Pact Between Turkey and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham Exposed Ankara’s Double Game on Terrorism
From the Sykes-Picot Agreement to Abu Mohamed Al-Julani’s Lightning Revolution