In the uneasy interstice between war and peace, Syria grapples with a question striking at the heart of national sovereignty, social cohesion, and institutional legitimacy: what to do with thousands of foreign jihadist fighters who can neither be expelled nor ignored. The recent move to integrate roughly 3,500 of these …

In a wide-ranging talk, former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford traced the astonishing political transformation unfolding in Damascus: from a 14-year civil war and the December 2024 collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa—a former jihadist commander now serving as Syria’s transitional president. Ford began …

Several days have passed since a ground assault targeted Russia’s Hemeimeem airbase on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, yet neither Moscow nor Damascus has issued any official statement clarifying the incident. Behind the silence, however, it is widely believed that high-level, behind-the-scenes communications have taken place to address not only the attack …

While progress has been made between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and the Syrian Transitional Government on several issues—including a new agreement announced today concerning the Al-Hol camp—deep disagreements remain over the core issue of governance: centralization versus decentralization. Agreement to Repatriate Syrians from Al-Hol Camp …

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024 marked a watershed moment in Middle Eastern geopolitics. Abrupt and largely unforeseen by both regional and international actors, Assad’s fall brought an end to decades of autocratic rule and the relative stability that had defined Syria since Hafez al-Assad seized power …

Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler confirmed on Wednesday that Ankara has begun training and advising Syrian military forces as part of a broader initiative to enhance Syria’s national defence capabilities. Speaking to Reuters in written responses, Güler stressed that the presence of over 20,000 Turkish troops in northern Syria will …

The Government of East Turkestan in exile has issued a stark warning against recent efforts to integrate Chinese Uyghur fighters into the newly restructured Syrian army, calling the move a dangerous geopolitical ploy that risks distorting the Uyghur people’s legitimate struggle for independence. In a statement posted on its official …

The meeting between Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa and U.S. President Donald Trump in Riyadh marked a turning point in Syria’s international relations. By lifting sanctions on Damascus, Trump signaled to Washington’s allies that it was time to re-engage with Syria—not only through diplomacy but also through large-scale investment and …

While the long-term logistics of reoccupying Gaza are unclear, Israel is moving ahead with an official policy to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian territory This month, Israeli forces launched a new offensive in the Gaza Strip meant to “conquer” the besieged enclave and displace its population to the south of the …

Since Bashar Al-Assad’s regime fell in late 2024, constant Israeli airstrikes have targeted Syria’s military infrastructure in locations across the war-torn country. Israeli forces have also advanced into the UN-monitored demilitarised buffer zone separating Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, as well as into adjacent regions, including the summit of …