Syria

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Syria’s Kurds have decided to declare a federal province in the northeast of the country and along the northern border with Turkey. Many Arab states are unitary rather than federal and for the most part provincial governors are appointed by the central government and the central […]

Russia

Why is Putin Really withdrawing from Syria?

contributors

By Alexander Titov | (The Conversation) | – – Back in September 30 2015, when Vladimir Putin unexpectedly announced the deployment of the Russian air force in Syria, the consensus was that this would prove to be a costly mistake. Critics argued that airstrikes alone would not make any tangible difference to the facts on […]

Bashar al-Assad

Mystery: Russia & Hizbullah begin withdrawal from Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – al-Hayat [Life], the London pan-Arab daily, reports on the announcement Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would begin withdrawing the greater part of Russian men and equipment from Syria. Al-Hayat is careful to note that Putin says that the Russian naval base at Tartus […]

al-Qaeda

Syria: More US Weaponry goes to al-Qaeda

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – al-Akhbar (Beirut) reports that al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Levant, also known as the Support Front (jabhat al-Nusra), repeated scenarios it had previously acted out against other “moderate” remnants of the old Free Syrian Army. It launched a massive attack on the headquarters of Division […]

Featured

Winners and Losers in 5 Years of Syrian Civil War

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Five years ago this week, protests began in Damascus and Deraa (mainly Deraa) in Syria, on the heels of the overthrow of dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. Syria’s government was even more repressive than those of the other two countries, however, much more of a Stalinist […]

Human Rights

Syrian Family Talks About Living In Besieged Town (AJ+)

Nicholas Kolenda

Al Jazeera+ gives a glimpse into the daily horror that civilians and their families face in the Syrian conflict

Children

Thousands of Children Under Siege in War-Torn Syria

contributors

By Valentina Ieri | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Seeing children dying due to a lack of doctors and medicines, and seeing them grow up in a society with no food, schools or text books, is the reality of the daily life of more than 250,000 Syrian children currently under […]

Europe

Has The Gateway to Europe Been Shut To Refugees? (AJ+)

Nicholas Kolenda

AJ+ Reports on a tentative deal between countries of the EU and Turkey

Syria

Disillusioned Volunteer Says Syria A Battle For War Booty, Territory

contributors

By Luljeta Krasniqi Veseli and Charles Recknagel | ( RFE/RL | – – “In the beginning, when I went [to Syria], everybody was greeting us. But later, they were looking at us differently. They were scared of us,” Arben tells RFE/RL correspondent Luljeta Krasniqi Veseli.” Ideals give way to disillusionment easily in Syria, where foreign […]