Recent Posts

Syria’s Protest Wave: A Governance Stress Test

Washington should treat the recent public discontent not as a sign that Syria’s transition is failing, but as an opportunity to help ensure that Damascus does not repeat the mistakes of previous governments. Since the beginning of the year, Syrian transport workers, farmers, nurses, teachers, lawyers, university students, municipal employees, …

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After America

While Washington’s war with Iran drags on, month after month, without any end in sight, the world is witnessing the very real limits of U.S. global power. As President Donald Trump lurches repeatedly from threats of devastation to promises of peace, it’s becoming increasingly clear that U.S. military might is …

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The logic behind the madness

Why Trump’s Middle East strategy is not new – and may even be workingThe US/Israel war on Iran is described by some as impulsive, chaotic, and even irrational: a war that the US has already lost. This view might generate clicks, but it overlooks the deeper logic shaping American policy …

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The Druze Supervillain

Attempts to securitise Suwayda are ill advisedSuwayda compresses many of Syria’s key challenges into a remarkably narrow space: decentralisation of governance, minority relations, competing victimhood narratives, a lack of accountability and transitional justice, war-economy networks and Israeli intervention. None of these are unique to the province. How they are handled …

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Baltic Roundup | May 2026

Since the start of 2025, some two dozen drones have entered Baltic territory as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Dear readers, Since the start of 2025, some two dozen drones have strayed into Baltic territory as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine. At least five incursions occurred …

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Syria and Jordan by the Numbers

Trade statistics show why Amman has more reason than Damascus to welcome the improvement in bilateral commerce. Syria’s border with Jordan has long reflected the state of relations between the two neighbors. The border itself, delineated by France and Britain in October 1931, was tightly enforced only from 1970 onward, …

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