In-depth: Israel is instrumentalising Syria’s Druze to maintain military influence in the south, but the community has rejected Netanyahu’s bid to protect them. Dozens of Druze residents gathered in the Seyouf Square of Jaramana, a Damascus suburb, last Tuesday, holding banners denouncing comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu …
Read More »Ocalan’s call for peace: The end of the PKK-Turkey conflict?
Analysis: While PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan’s historic call raises hopes of ending 40 years of conflict with Turkey, peace is by no means guaranteed. After four decades of fighting the Turkish state, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan has urged the group that he founded to abandon its armed …
Read More »Syria’s ‘national dialogue’: An uncertain roadmap for the future
The National Dialogue Conference in Damascus, which brought together hundreds of participants to discuss Syria’s political future, ended last week in a mix of optimism and criticism. The first national-level event since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime presented a long-awaited opportunity for Syrians to come together and deliberate on …
Read More »Syria’s self-governing democratic north-east comes under attack with country in flux
After more than a decade of brutal civil war, it took Islamist militants just 11 days to sweep through Syria and topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The offensive, which has been driven by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has forced many residents in …
Read More »Why Kurds face an uncertain future in Ahmed Al-Shara’s rebel-led Syria
More than a month has passed since Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group, became the de facto leader of Syria. Since then, he has dropped his nom de guerre in favour of his real name, Ahmed al-Shara, and has swapped his military attire …
Read More »PKK leader’s call to disarm fuels hope for end to Kurdish conflict – but peace is not imminent
Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), has called on the group to disarm and dissolve itself. In a letter read out by his political allies in Istanbul, Turkey, on February 27, he wrote: “I take on the historical responsibility for this call … All …
Read More »What’s behind Erdoğan’s calculated shift on Kurds and its potential consequences
On March 1, the start of the holy month of Ramadan — observed by most of Turkey’s Sunni population — the imprisoned leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Abdullah Öcalan, made a historic call for the party to disarm and end its 40-year-long armed struggle against the Turkish state. …
Read More »The West Must Offer Syria’s Interim Government Tightly Conditioned Aid against an Emerging Assadist Insurgency
An Assadist insurgency has emerged in western Syria and stands to help US adversaries expand their influence there. The insurgency has developed slowly since early January 2025. Insurgent activity involved hit-and-run attacks at first and has evolved gradually into overt civil conflict.[i] This insurgency is still at a relatively low …
Read More »Russia’s God of War – The Political and Military Power of Artillery
Russia’s artillery has profound strategic and psychological effects, and its use through history has signalled the nation’s resolve in warfare. The use of artillery in Ukraine has echoes of the past, with revolutions in application following every Russian war of the 20th century. In the time of Suvorov, artillery was …
Read More »Discourse on Colonialism: A Brief Review
Discourse on Colonialism is a text published in 1950 by Martinique poet Aimé Césaire. Césaire was deeply influenced by Hegel, Marx, and the Surrealist movement. African and French literature was also strong influences on the author. Written in an energetic and captivating poetic style along with brutal descriptions of violence, …
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