The current conflict is unlikely to go global for now, but the speed at which it has spread regionally is alarming. A look at history shows the geopolitical factors that led to world wars.
The Adana Agreement defused a crisis in 1998 on the brink of a military confrontation. As revision talks are underway, Al Majalla reexamines the agreement.
From seducing nuclear whistleblowers in London to orchestrating assassinations in the heart of Beirut, female Mossad agents stand out in the landscape of modern espionage
Nureddin al-Atassi was the first and last Syrian president to address the UN General Assembly in 1967. But President Ahmed al-Sharaa will break this trend when he is in New York next week.
Classified documents from the 1970s obtained by Al Majalla show what led to the killing of the Lebanese Druze politician and how Syria came to occupy Lebanon
The Druze leader, whose forces were winning Lebanon's civil war, disagreed with Syria's president over it. Now, Al Majalla publishes a letter he sent to Assad, aiming to put them on the same page.
First divided into mini-states, France later merged them into a federal union in 1922, which was a spectacular failure. In 1925, it was replaced by the Syrian state with Damascus as the capital.
Al Majalla publishes the US president's plan for a phased hostage/prisoner release over 60 days during a temporary end to the bombing that gives both sides time to negotiate a permanent agreement.
The notion of the US as an honest broker was always a dubious one, particularly given its largely unquestioning support for Israel, but its recent actions towards Iran shatter the concept completely
Peace with Israel had crossed the Egyptian president's mind as early as 1952, when he engaged in secret negotiations with Israel, which ultimately failed
The standoff in the Hormuz is not simply a question of whether Tehran can survive economic pressure, but whether Washington can sustain the pressure at an acceptable cost.
Many Israelis actually believe that they lost the war, with opposition leader Yair Lapid accusing the Israeli premier of having led the country into "strategic collapse and diplomatic catastrophe"
The Strait of Hormuz is now poised to become the primary arena of confrontation, with Iran relying on speedboat-driven guerrilla warfare to confront the US navy.
Former regime soldiers are stuck in limbo, as their undocumented status prevents them from working, travelling, and curbs family members' access to education, healthcare and social services