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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
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  • Bashar Al-Assad

From Barakat to Assad: The Syrian presidency in 100 years

Al Majalla lays out the long and often chaotic array of leaders, military coups, and governing systems that Syria has gone through in the past century

Sami Moubayed 16 December 2024
Al Majalla

Resuscitating Syria’s economy is crucial but will not be easy

Regime change brings an opportunity to raise living standards, which have collapsed along with the national currency and years of war. The transition of power will be key.

Joseph Daher 15 December 2024
A Syrian woman holds a picture of President Bashar al-Assad as other protestors fly Palestinian and Syrian flags during a demonstration to mark Land Day in Damascus on March 30, 2012. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

The Assads were phony champions of the Palestinian cause

In its public statements, the Syrian government has long supported the Palestinian cause. In reality, the Assads sought to stymie the PLO, whose famous leader, Yasser Arafat, never trusted Damascus.

Majed Kayali 14 December 2024
Members of Russian and Syrian forces at the Abu Al-Duhur crossing on the eastern edge of Idlib province on August 20, 2018. AFP

How the fall of Assad has been a strategic loss for Russia

Russia's claim of being a steadfast guarantor of security for allies has been dented, which could affect its expansion into Africa and Latin America and strain its ties with Central Asian countries

Samer Elias 14 December 2024
Former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and his counterpart Elias Hrawi during their meeting in Damascus on March 14, 1998. AFP

Assad's fall could put Lebanon and Syria on divergent paths

The end of Assad's rule also means the end of his influence in Lebanon, and Lebanese politicians who served the interests of Damascus for decades could see their power drastically curtailed

Houssam Itani 13 December 2024
A woman inspects the cells of the famous Sednaya prison north of Damascus after the fall of the Assad regime.
 AP/Hussein Malla

Blood-curdling tales emerge from Assad's torture dungeons

Unravelling the horrors perpetrated in the darkest corners of Syria's prisons is chilling, nauseating, and crucial to understanding how this infernal machinery came into being—and continued operating

Samer Abou Hawwach 13 December 2024
Rebel forces shoot in the air as they celebrate in the central Syrian city of Homs early on December 8, 2024. Aref TAMMAWI / AFP

Is Syria heading for a bright new beginning or an even darker future?

Syrians are rejoicing over the overthrow of a despised dictator, but it could still be some time before they genuinely reap the benefits of liberation. The coming months will be telling.

Con Coughlin 11 December 2024
People hold a large Syrian opposition flag at Umayyad Square in Damascus on December 9, 2024. Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP

The history of Syria's not-so-new flag

A flag that has become synonymous with opposition to Assad rule was actually the flag of the first Syrian Republic under French mandate. Al Majalla debunks regime lies about what this flag represents.

Sami Moubayed 11 December 2024

Assad flees Syria after lightening opposition offensive

Fares Garabet 09 December 2024
A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama following its capture. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Assad's fall: The end of an era

In just over a week, a lightning rebel offensive has collapsed five decades of draconian Assad rule. Al Majalla looks back at the political career of the former Syrian president.

Sami Moubayed 08 December 2024
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Eduardo Ramon
Politics

Trump has lost the Iran war, but how badly?

20 April 2026

While all the effects of this conflict may take time to fully realise, short and medium-term signs expose the limits of US power and see America's rivals benefiting

Christopher Phillips
Jason Lyon
Business & Economy

The Iran war is reshaping the China-Gulf economic model

21 April 2026

Closing the Strait of Hormuz has shown how the Gulf should shift from an oil-export model to a digital and distribution hub. Will this trigger the long-delayed free trade agreement with China?

Charbel Barakat
Pete Reynolds
Politics

Lebanon and Israel: negotiations and the end of Hezbollah

23 April 2026

Building on the ten-day ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump, time will tell if these talks are a one-off or the beginning of a different path for Lebanon.

Al Majalla - London
Grace Russell
Science & Technology

Saving the soldiers: robots as Ukraine’s new weapon

22 April 2026

The war in Ukraine is becoming an open laboratory for testing advanced military technologies that may yet redefine the very meaning of combat

Marco Mossad
Nesma Moharam
Culture & Social Affairs

New book tackles the fading art of Koranic recitation

20 April 2026

Egyptian heritage researcher Haytham Abu Zayd sheds light on how the art form grew, excelled, and then declined over the years and ends by offering a path to revival

Fadi El-Abdallah

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OPINIONS

Assad to be tried in abstentia

Fares Garabet
Fares Garabet

Damascus: reassured, yet wary

Ibrahim Hamidi
Ibrahim Hamidi

Arab Film Festival Berlin holds its ground amid Gaza backlash

Mohamed Magdy
Mohamed Magdy

The 2026 Lebanon-Israel talks have echoes in 1983

Elie Kossaifi
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