Opinion

If past trauma is not addressed, old wounds will continue to fester, and Syria will never heal

Tel Aviv wants a weak Syria, whereas Ankara is working to strengthen Damascus and build a cohesive national army. With such diametrically opposed strategies, a clash between the two seems inevitable.

In modern Arab history, there have been widely different views on the role of religion in governance. Western history offers valuable lessons on which model works best.

How to read the ripple effects in the region and around the world as Trump pulls the transatlantic alliance apart

The aim is to direct future investment and business enterprise back to the US rather than outsourcing production to countries with cheaper production costs. But could it backfire?

Al-Sharaa has many concerns as transitional president, not least security and balancing the needs of his people with factional and regional politics. It will be a long journey, and it has just begun.

Hezbollah's entrenched networks, the economic drivers of illicit trade, Syria's limited security capacity, and the sheer scale of the porous border all make total elimination unlikely

Have hegemons become so drunk on power that we are heading towards an authoritarian dystopia? It seems so.

For decades, Tehran bore its way deep into the Syrian state. Dismantling its influence is no easy feat, as Syria's new ministers are discovering, but it is important.

Disparaging remarks made by senior Trump administration officials about their European allies are not new, but they will further hurt already strained relations

Israel continues to bomb and seize Syrian territory, while Iran uses remnants of the Assad regime to foment instability. Both claim to protect minorities as a pretext to extend their influence.

The US-Israeli plan for a new Middle East requires a pliable Syria. To this end, a long list of tall demands has been handed to the new leadership in Damascus.