March, 2025

• 17 March

  Israel and Turkey: The showdown that could shape Syria’s future

  

  Analysis: Turkey and Israel are the two main players to fill power vacuums in post-Assad Syria, and friction between Ankara and Tel Aviv is intensifying. For many years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used powerful rhetoric to condemn Israel. As the then-prime minister of Turkey, Erdogan captured much international …

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• 17 March

  Syria’s Druze: Key players caught between local and regional power struggles

  

  In-depth: As the path to a new Syria evolves, the Druze find themselves navigating different pressures amid local and regional power struggles. More than a week after a member of the interim government’s security forces was killed during clashes with Druze armed factions in Jaramana, tensions remain high. The incident …

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• 17 March

  Israel has killed dozens of Lebanese civilians since ceasefire. 17-year old Khadija Atwi was one of them

  

  In-depth: Shot while holding her cousin, Khadija Atwi, 17, was left to die in Houla as Israeli forces blocked aid. Her family mourns and demands justice. The last thing young girl Khadija Atwi said before the Israeli bullet hit her was that she wanted to visit her father’s grave. At …

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• 17 March

  Between Arab plan for Gaza and Trump’s Riviera, what future is there for Hamas?

  

  Analysis: As Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction gains Arab-global backing while facing US-Israel opposition, Hamas’s role and weapons remain the biggest sticking point Egypt’s ambitious plan to rebuild Gaza, unveiled at an emergency summit in Cairo last Tuesday, is steadily gaining international traction.  It is even beginning to sway the Trump administration, …

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• 17 March

  Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 15, 2025

  

  Russian milbloggers and Ukrainian officials continue to deny Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unsubstantiated claim that Russian forces have encircled a significant number of Ukrainian troops in Kursk Oblast. Russian milbloggers published maps on March 14 and 15 showing Russian and Ukrainian positions in Kursk Oblast that do not indicate Russian …

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• 17 March

  South Sudan: What’s led to renewed tensions?

  

  South Sudan’s security situation is volatile, as civil war-time leadership divisions deepen. The UN has expressed concern, regional mediators are scrambling and a US evacuation is underway. Tensions are spiraling in South Sudan amid escalating militia violence in the Upper Nile state in the east of the country, cabinet reshuffles …

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• 17 March

  Lebanon Appoints New Army Chief

  Lebanon named a new head of the armed forces Thursday to succeed Joseph Aoun, who was appointed president earlier this year. “Brigadier General Rodolphe Haykal was named commander in chief of the armed forces,” Minister of Information Paul Morcos said after a cabinet meeting, also confirming a number of other …

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• 17 March

  Syrian leader signs constitution that puts the country under an Islamist group’s rule for 5 years

  Syria’s interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule while promising to protect the rights of all Syrians for five years during a transitional phase. The nation’s interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of Syria since the Islamist former …

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• 17 March

  What Does the SDF Deal Mean for U.S. Counterterrorism in Syria?

  

  The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have agreed to merge with Damascus’s new government. Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces make a deal with Syria’s new government, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s open to a cease-fire in Ukraine (but there’s a catch), and …

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• 17 March

  Can a Deal between Syrian Kurds and the Government Stabilize the Country?

  

  In what some have described as a breakthrough deal, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to merge with Syria’s new government on Monday. Although the deal has generated immense media attention, questions remain over how the SDF’s integration will take shape and the sustainability of the agreement, as the …

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