Bashar al-Assad

By Marwan Kabalan | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Syrian intellectuals and activists from across political and intellectual spheres are busy searching for a way out of the disastrous situation their country has reached after ten years of violent conflict. The issue is not straightforward, and the exit is unclear, with everyone trying […]

Authoritarianism

Trump aping Mideast Tinpot Dictators and raving about declaring Martial Law, which even Iran Prohibits

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With Trump raving in White House meetings, prompted by the equally certifiable Michael Flynn, about declaring martial law, it sets an old Middle East hand like me thinking. In my part of the world, leaders declare martial law or a “state of emergency” at the drop of a helmet. And […]

Bashar al-Assad

Will Biden Wind down the Syria War or keep it Bubbling?

Global Voices

Incoming US administration won’t take leaps in Syria

Bashar al-Assad

Syria’s security services flourish while people starve; what sort of ‘president’ is Assad?

Juan Cole

Ghazi Dahman | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – It is no surprise that the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre has released documents revealing that Syrian Embassies around the world spy on their own citizens on behalf of the Assad regime. Every Syrian who has travelled abroad for any reason knows that the regime’s […]

Bashar al-Assad

As Syria Faces Hunger, will New, Severe Trump Sanctions on the Regime Harm the People?

Jamal Dillman-Hasso

Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – In the Ma`aret Misrin camp near Idlib, 45-year-old father of 10 Nasr Sultan recently told AFP that with the recent imminent halt of food supplies to the camp, his children will be at the mercy of famine. Mike Robson, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Syrian representative, separately […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syria from Eden to Ruin: The World may forget, but the Catastrophe hasn’t Gone Away

Bert de Vries

From Eden to Ruin ( Christian Courier) – While living in Jordan, my wife Sally and I fell in love with Syria and its people through many visits stretched over four decades. Our last adventure in 2006 was to Aleppo, when we stayed in a converted khan in the middle of its souq (market), which […]

Bashar al-Assad

Is Russia set to abandon its ally, Syria’s al-Assad?

Nikola Mikovic

Rumors are flying that Russia may be trying to topple Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad, or at least to force him to accept a new constitution that would significantly limit his power. Moscow unexpectedly started criticizing its only ally in the Middle East, which has raised questions on the future of Russia’s involvement in the Syrian […]

Bashar al-Assad

2 reasons – and 1 disease – that make peace in Syria so difficult

The Conversation

By Ora Szekely | – Despite many attempts at negotiations, the Syrian war – a conflict with a complicated and constantly changing cast of characters that has killed as many as 585,000 people and displaced over half of Syria’s prewar population – has proved extremely difficult to resolve. As the war grinds on, conditions are […]

Bashar al-Assad

Millions of Homeless Syrian Refugees are Suffering Because of Russo-Turkish Rivalry

The Conversation

Juline Beaujouan, University of Edinburgh and Amjed Rasheed, Durham University The Syrian province of Idlib, the remaining holdout of rebels fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, has experienced fierce fighting in recent months as the Syrian army, supported by Russia, has pushed to reclaim the territory. Meanwhile, the expansionist impulses of Turkish President Recep Tayyip […]