The case for designating Iran-linked crime networks as FTOs

In February 2025, US President Donald Trump designated a series of cartels as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), including Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), among others.

Previously, the US Treasury Department sanctioned MS-13 as a Transnational Criminal Organization under Executive Order 13581. The Trump administration similarly designated Foxtrot, which has been used by Iranian intelligence, under the same authority last month.

Manuel stratégique de la Palestine et du Moyen-Orient

«Loin de ne concerner que le peuple palestinien, l’avenir de notre monde se joue en partie importante en Palestine … (car) l’hégémonie occidentale est confrontée à une série de résistances qui menacent la poursuite de son pillage du monde sur lequel est bâti son modèle économique». ~ Saïd Bouamama

Impressionnant par son grand format, par la qualité du papier, de la typographie, du graphisme, cet ouvrage de Saïd Bouamama, fruit d’années de recherches, doté de références exhaustives en plusieurs langues, extrêmement bien écrit et surtout non-idéologique sur l’essentiel, se trouve à être parmi les rares productions actuelles en Europe occidentale qui soient – du point de vue de Mendelssohn du moins – indispensable.

Assad is Gone, but Syrians Fear Ongoing Sectarian Violence

The Assad regime collapsed late last year, but a recent spate of sectarian violence has left many Syrians worried for the future.

Samir Ismail sat on his knees, his forehead on the ground and hands clasped behind his back. His young nieces and nephews watched — their eyes wide in horror — as he demonstrated how militants lined the nine men up, then shot and killed them.

C’est officiel : l’ONU accuse (enfin) Israël de génocide à Gaza

Un rapport historique de l’ONU qui accuse Israël de génocide à Gaza, citant la violence sexuelle systématique et la destruction ciblée des infrastructures de santé reproductive comme des outils délibérés d’extermination.

Le 22 mars, Al-Mayadeen English a détaillé les conclusions d’une commission d’enquête internationale indépendante de l’ONU sur «le recours systématique par Israël de la violence sexuelle, reproductive et d’autres formes de violence sexiste depuis le 7 octobre 2023».

Federalism and the Fractured State: Can a Divided Structure Rescue Lebanon and Syria? – The Syrian Observer

As Lebanon and Syria grapple with profound political transformations and the long shadows of conflict, the notion of federalism—a once-taboo idea—is steadily reentering public discourse. But in a region where divisions often take the form of sectarian identity, the question remains: could federalism, or a deepening of cantonal structures, offer a sustainable solution for fragile, post-conflict states like Syria and Lebanon? Or might it simply institutionalize fragmentation and pave the way for a future of inter-cantonal strife?

On the Meaning of the “Third Republic”: Are There Still Secular Democrats in Syria? – The Syrian Observer

The French, deeply attached to republicanism, have divided their modern history into five distinct republics, each marked by a significant historical turning point. In our view, this tradition reflects their desire to compensate for their brief and unsuccessful attempt to restore the monarchy between 1870 and 1883—an era commonly associated with the so-called French Third Republic.

Syria’s Uncertain New Order

Can Shara’s Government Unite a Country Ready to Explode?

In late March, Ahmad al-Shara, Syria’s new leader, introduced a caretaker government that would supervise the country’s transition from five decades of dictatorial rule. He gave some cabinet positions to figures outside his Islamist milieu, including naming a Christian woman minister of social affairs, a Kurdish official minister of education, a Druze minister for agriculture, and an Alawite minister for transport. Those appointments reflect the pressure Shara is under to demonstrate to Arab and Western governments—and to the Syrian people—that he can build an inclusive government that represents the country’s religious and ethnic minorities. It is a challenge made all the harder by an eruption of bloodshed in March in which fighters affiliated with Shara’s government (but not under its direction) targeted minority Alawites in the west of the country, killing hundreds.

Exclusive—Syria’s New ‘Resistance’ Takes on Israel and a US ‘Axis of Evil’

The overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have marked a major blow to the Iran-aligned Axis of Resistance coalition, but a new group styling itself in a similar manner has emerged to challenge the interests of the United States and its feuding top Middle Eastern allies.

With post-Assad Syria now at the center of a regional struggle for influence between neighboring Israel and Turkey, the militia known as Uli al-Baas, or “the Possessors of Might,” argues it is “positioned with the Axis of Resistance against the Axis of Global Evil,” of which Washington is said to be a part due to President Donald Trump’s support for both foreign powers.