Recent Posts

Iran Update, January 23, 2026

Toplines The Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) may agree to extend the US-mediated ceasefire, according to Kurdish sources and mediators. The Syrian government and SDF agreed to a ceasefire on January 20 that gave SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi four days to secure other SDF leaders’ agreement to …

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Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 22, 2026

Toplines Note: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US envoys in Moscow ended after the completion of this update and will be covered in ISW’s January 23 report. Ukrainian and US officials continued meetings in Switzerland on January 22. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump at …

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Iran Update, January 22, 2026

Toplines The Syrian government surrounded Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in Kobani, likely as the first part of a multi-stage operation to reduce the SDF forces there. Civilians have fled to Kobani as fighting approached their villages south of Kobani, leading to a larger than standard population there.[1] Civilians in …

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La scission interne et irréversible au sein de l’Occident

Une transformation fondamentale de toute l’architecture mondiale Alexandre Douguine sur la fracture irréversible de l’Occident, les gambades impériales de Trump, et l’émergence de cinq pôles occidentaux concurrents. Entretien avec Alexandre Dougine pour l’émission «Escalation» de Sputnik TV. Animateur : Les fêtes de début 2026 ont apporté une nouvelle qui évoque …

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Decentralization and Federalism in Syria: Governance Tools or Pathways to Fragmentation?

In Syrian political discourse since 2012, the concepts of federalism and political decentralization have been presented as technical solutions to a chronic governance crisis, or as “rational” exits for managing diversity and containing collapse. However, this framing, despite its superficial appeal, ignores the true context from which these projects emerged. …

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Kurdish Collapse in Northeast Syria? Key Things to Watch

Washington Institute experts assess the immediate fallout of the Syrian government’s advance into SDF-held parts of the northeast, including mutual disinformation campaigns, implications for the Islamic State threat, the terms of new agreements with the Kurds, and the calculus of outside actors like the United States, Israel, and Turkey. Cutting …

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