Middle Orient

War is of its nature an uncertain business. Only in retrospect does Assad’s fall, so improbable last week, now look fated. It is ironic, given the opprobrium with which Arab normalisation with his regime was greeted by pro-rebel advocates, that that same normalisation may have helped spell his doom. Seeking …

Donald Trump isn’t yet back in the White House — but his Iranian policy is clear. Like he did in his first term, he’ll pursue a vigorous policy against Tehran, hampering its nuclear programme and backing its rivals across the Middle East. If history is anything to go by, meanwhile, …

Old grievances in Western politics have been reopened by the sudden fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. And they are as dispiriting in their dishonesty as they are myopic in their self-interest. On the one hand, we have the unrepentant interventionists convinced that the tyrant’s fall would have happened years earlier …

Turkish historian Professor İlber Ortaylı critically analyses Syria’s governance and explores its sectarian dynamics and potential future. He points out that the Arab Alawite Nusayri minority, through a mafia-like structure, holds control over the country. This governance model has deeply impacted Syria’s socio-political framework. Ortaylı also suggests that Syria might …

The fall of Assad’s regime, while ostensibly surprising for many, was quite predictable. Syria’s economy had been devastated by more than a decade of war, compounded by sanctions that crippled state infrastructure and left 90 percent of Syrians below the poverty line. Moreover, state subsidies on essentials such as food …

After insurgents toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad this month, many senior officials and members of his dreaded intelligence and security services appear to have melted away. Activists say some of them have managed to flee the country while others went to hide in their hometowns. For more than five decades, …

The easy way to make sense of Syria, Gaza, Lebanon and Israel After saving Syria from Assad, who will save it from the saviors? US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going on a tour to persuade the Turks and their Jihadis to establish an “inclusive” government in Syria. But …

A former branch of Al Qaeda, in 2018, HTS [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] was officially designated a terrorist organization by the US government. HTS, which cooperates with the Turkish military and Turkish-backed groups in Syria, is committed to establishing an Islamist state across Syria, at least for a start. Turkish President …

The ascendance of Sunni Islamist rebels in Syria should be viewed with great caution by Western powers, but the Assad regime’s collapse disables a critical node in Iran’s regional proxy network. Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a Sunni Islamist group. How should the U.S. and its regional allies view its …

On December 11 and 12, 2024, the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) in the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-linked Syrian Salvation Government (SSG)announced the renewal of operations of a series of diplomatic missions in Damascus, including those of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, and Italy. In another …