Orientul Mijlociu

Progress With Few Results in Syria

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Assad regime has seen measured advances in its situation that fall well short of real success.

The war in Gaza has had a paradoxical effect on Syria and the Assad regime in Damascus. Escalating tensions between Iran and Israel in the shadow of the Gaza conflict have heightened the risk that Syria may be drawn into a war that it can ill afford. Yet, the conflict has also shifted international attention back to the Middle East, including Syria. After a challenging 2023 marked by setbacks for the regime—the failed reconciliation between Syria and Türkiye, the stalled process of rapprochement between Syria and the Arab countries, and a worsening economic situation that ignited protests, notably in Suwayda—Syria has regained some significance, breathing new life into previously stalled political processes.

Russo-Ukrainian war, day 922: Türkiye to join BRICS involving Russia, Iran to supply Russia with ballistic missiles

In a diplomatic move, Türkiye is seeking BRICS membership, potentially expanding its alliances beyond traditional Western partners while maintaining its NATO membership. Meanwhile, Iran is set to supply Russia with ballistic missiles within days, potentially escalating the war, as some Ukrainian allies have yet to deliver on promises made at the July NATO summit.

How can you read the operation “summer camps” in the northern West Bank?

The Israeli political and security objectives of the military operation in the northern West Bank and the Jordan Valley are numerous and complex and are linked in their timing to the course of confrontation on other fronts, especially the fronts of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and the seriousness of the development of the situation in the West Bank is not only related to the course of the Palestinian arena, but affects the Jordanian interior.

The Middle Corridor Will Help China Hedge Against Uncertainty In Russia & Pakistan

It’s unrealistic that China would ever abandon its investments in Russia or Pakistan, but those two’s connectivity roles for it vis-à-vis the EU and West Asia/Africa respectively can be complemented by Turkey and Iran via the Middle Corridor.

Up until the beginning of this year, China’s grand strategy was to rely on a network of connectivity corridors across its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) to integrate Eurasia and thus advance its non-Western model of globalization, which Beijing believes to be more equal, just, and multipolar than the declining Western-centric one. This ambitious plan was abruptly disrupted by two black swan events that created sudden uncertainty about the viability of BRI’s Russian and Pakistani routes: Moscow’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine and Islamabad’s scandalous change of government.

Death Camp

Since 2007, when the State of Israel implemented its still-ongoing blockade of Gaza, several different monikers have emerged to describe the conditions for Palestinians living in the territory under the ongoing Israeli siege. Now, after 11 months of the murderous Israeli assault on the people of Gaza, it is necessary once again to revise what the State of Israel has imposed on the territory. What the state of Israel has created in the Gaza Strip is nothing less than a death camp akin to what the Nazis created for the massacre of Jews and other so-called enemies of the Reich.

First Syrian Death in Ukraine War

A source told Syria TV that Batal was initially injured and transferred to a hospital, where he remained for four weeks under tight security by the Russian military police.

A Syrian fighter was killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine after being recruited by Russia with promises of large financial salaries and the offer of citizenship.

“Syria’s Paradox: Unpacking the Complexities of Revolution and Civil War”

A revolution is supposed to transform society, often driven by a clear vision for the future and a commitment to radical change, Wael Sawah writes.

I find myself at a loss when it comes to understanding the origins and conclusions of certain trends. One morning, I awaken to find the world abuzz with a new trend, dominating both the media and social platforms, subjecting individuals to relentless scrutiny. Yet, within days, this trend vanishes as abruptly as it emerged, leaving behind a society that quickly forgets the fervor with which they once hurled accusations at one another. The latest Syrian trend revolves around a question of profound significance: Is what is unfolding in Syria a revolution or a civil war?

Exposing and opposing Zionism: A conversation with Ilan Pappé

Ilan Pappé is an internationally renowned Israeli historian.

Formerly a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Haifa, he is now professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Exeter.

Pappé has written more than 20 books on the history of Palestine and the State of Israel, including the seminal work, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006), which makes clear that the driving out of 700,000 Palestinians and the seizure of their land during the founding of Israel in 1947-48 was a deliberate Zionist policy.

The Nazification of anti-Zionism

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Aug. 28, Yonathan Arfi, the head of the French Jewish umbrella body Crif, complained that most of his fellow citizens have an understanding of antisemitism that is rooted in the memory of the Second World War. The indelible association of Nazism with Jew-hatred, Arfi argued, prevents today’s generations from perceiving antisemitism as a live and current threat to the Jewish communities in their midst.