State of Play Northeast Syria, for long the most stable corner of the country, has been plunged into turmoil following a military campaign by the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Following days of fighting, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have now retreated to the Kurdish-majority portions of northeast Syria in …

The protests in Iran this month were the most recent in a series of popular uprisings that reveal a fundamental reality inside the country: The Islamic Republic in its current form is unsustainable. Since 2017, large-scale demonstrations have swept across Iran on four occasions, with masses of citizens from diverse …

The Afrin Region and the Kurdish Populations The following report, commissioned as a field assignment by the Middle East Forum, is an in-depth examination of the Afrin region located in northwest Syria along the border with Turkey. The region is known for having had a majority Kurdish population prior to …