SyriaSource

SyriaSource followed the dynamics in Syria through in-depth analysis of the impact of the conflict on Syria, its neighbors and the international community. Amplifying a diverse range of Syrian and regional voices—to reach both English—and Arabic-speaking audiences, SyriaSource transforms their words from strong but distant ideas to resounding perspectives not often heard among Washington and international policymakers. For the latest work on Syria, please visit MENASource.

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The latest on Syria

MENASource

Dec 5, 2024

What does Turkey gain from the rebel offensive in Syria?

By Ömer Özkizilcik

The rebel offensive took many by surprise, but analysts familiar with the situation in Syria were aware that the rebels were prepared to launch it by mid-October.

Conflict Crisis Management

MENASource

Nov 8, 2024

Turkey is searching for a way out of Syria’s impasse

By Ömer Özkizilcik

Turkey has been at a standstill, which, combined with domestic political considerations, led to a reevaluation of its strategy.

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

MENASource

Sep 26, 2024

Member states can and should refer the situation of Syria to the ICC

By Yaser Tabbara and Nick Leddy

Until a few years ago, Syria’s pathway to the ICC was closed. But in 2018 and 2019, two historic ICC decisions re-opened the door for Syria’s situation.

Conflict Middle East

MENASource

Sep 4, 2024

In France, it is no longer taboo to prosecute sitting heads of state like Bashar al-Assad

By Jeanne Sulzer and Clémence Witt

The June 26 decision is the first court decision to suggest that there is no such thing as absolute immunity for a sitting head of state.

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

MENASource

Aug 16, 2024

Syrian elections ended. What have we learned from the results?

By Vladimir Pran and Maroun Sfeir

The new parliament might be rejuvenated with significant turnover, but will likely remain in the service of the top Baath leadership.

Conflict Elections

MENASource

Aug 15, 2024

Red lines and reconciliation: Turkey and Syria’s diplomatic gamble

By Sinan Hatahet, Ömer Özkizilcik

The ongoing situation in Syria presents risks for Turkish security, prompting a search for viable solutions to its multifaceted challenges.

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

MENASource

Aug 6, 2024

Can northeast Syria delink from the PKK?

By JP Reppeto

The United States needs effective allies in the northeast to stabilize the area and block an ISIS resurgence, while Turkey must prevent the entrenchment of a PKK-led statelet on its border.

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

MENASource

Jul 25, 2024

Syrian elections are decided before election day

By Vladimir Pran and Maroun Sfeir

While the polls were held on July 15, the elections were effectively over at the end of the primaries.

Corruption Elections

MENASource

Jul 24, 2024

Ten years on, Yezidi cases expose a lack of corporate accountability in US genocide law

By Charles Johnson

The Genocide Accountability Act remains poorly equipped to handle cases of genocide in general, let alone to prosecute corporations specifically.

Conflict Human Rights

MENASource

Jul 10, 2024

Syria’s inflated electorate is caused by phantom voters

By Vladimir Pran and Maroun Sfeir

The confusion over the true size of the electorate will certainly not be resolved in these elections.

Civil Society Conflict

Content

SyriaSource

Jan 29, 2020

The uncounted: Life after war for Syria’s living martyrs

By Gregory Waters

For all Syrians, honoring the men who died fighting for their side’s cause is a central social event. But while martyrs are immortalized in life-sized posters on every street corner, wounded fighters, known as “living martyrs,” risk becoming outcasts in their communities.

Conflict Syria

SyriaSource

Dec 24, 2019

The relentless assault on Idlib

By Reema Hibrawi

The relentless airstrikes campaign on Idlib by the Syrian regime and Russia air forces predicted by many analysts, including this author, remains a defining battlefield to the regime in the Syrian conflict, nine years later. Seen as a last opposition stronghold populated by extremists and a millions of civilians and internally displaced people (IDP), Idlib province and its surroundings are a deadly place.

Conflict Corruption

SyriaSource

Dec 24, 2019

Looking back at 2019: Our top five blogs

By Reema Hibrawi

It was an especially bleak year for Syria as displacement across the country continued especially in Idlib province. Below are our top five blogs in 2019 that touched on these important issues that captured the attention of our readers.

Corruption Political Reform
The complete destruction in Syria

SyriaSource

Dec 18, 2019

Hof’s analysis of Susan Rice’s Syria comments

By Frederic C. Hof

Former national security advisor, Susan Rice, recently wrote an op-ed lamenting the lack of options in solving the Syrian crisis, much like Samantha Powers, however, their arguments do not hold up against scrutiny.

Politics & Diplomacy Security & Defense

SyriaSource

Dec 10, 2019

Life after war: The impact of conflict on Syrian artists

By Natasha Hall

After a scrawled graffiti message in Daraa, Syrian artists began to express themselves more than they ever could since the Assad family took power. Revolutionary art exploded on to the global scene during the Arab Spring. Particularly in Syria, artists, writers, and filmmakers found a new voice, free of fear. Defiance, grief, and frustration were […]

Conflict Resilience & Society

SyriaSource

Dec 6, 2019

Reconstruction and security sector reform in Syria must go hand in hand

By Nora-Elise Beck and Lars Döbert

The structure and characteristics of the pre-conflict Syrian security sector contributed heavily to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war; for decades, it stood for corruption, discrimination, violent repression, and large-scale human rights abuses. When the Arab Spring began to unfold in Egypt and Tunisia in early 2011, a group of Syrian school boys got […]

Germany Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

SyriaSource

Nov 18, 2019

After the Syria withdrawal, it’s time the US rethinks the use of proxy forces

By Mona Alami

Proxy warfare is a 21st century military playbook utilized by great powers, like Russia, and the United States with some using it better than others.

Security & Defense Syria

SyriaSource

Nov 8, 2019

The death of Baghdadi: How ISIS used al-Qaeda’s mistakes to grow a caliphate

By Amanda E. Rogers

Optimistic predictions about the end of the Islamic State (ISIS) surged in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s October 27 press conference announcing the death of the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but prove misguided in the long term. The threat posed by ISIS remains high, particularly outside the para-state’s previously held territories in […]

Extremism Iraq

SyriaSource

Nov 7, 2019

Journalists in northeast Syria fear the return of state security services

By Dan Wilkofsky

US President Donald Trump’s decision in early October to withdraw American troops from the Syria-Turkey border put the US’s local partner in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS, Daesh), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in an unenviable position. Faced with an offensive by Turkey, NATO’s second largest military, the SDF struck a deal with […]

Conflict Media

SyriaSource

Oct 23, 2019

What the Turkish-Russian deal in Syria means for Vladimir Putin

By Frederic C. Hof

The Kremlin stands to reap significant rewards from its agreement with Turkey on Syria.

Politics & Diplomacy Syria
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