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  • SDF

AFP_Al Majalla

Forging Syrian national unity is key to regional peace

Damascus has already taken steps towards this end, but international support will still be vital. It can also draw on relevant elements from Iraq's governing model.

James Jeffrey 22 October 2025
Al Majalla

Ilham Ahmed on negotiating Syria’s future

In a wide-ranging sitdown interview with Al Majalla, AANES Foreign Affairs Chief Ilham Ahmed lays out the lingering points of contention with Damascus and the way forward

Ibrahim Hamidi 03 October 2025
The "Unity of Position" conference, held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hasakah on August 8, 2025. Social media

Heading for a showdown? SDF conference riles Damascus

Syria's government needs to centralise decision-making and bring armed groups to heel, but Kurds in the north-east want to establish a 'coalition of the unwilling' with Druze and Alawites. What now?

Subhi Franjieh 13 August 2025
The largest Syrian flag was raised on the highest pole, 110 meters high, in Tishreen Park in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on June 4. Getty

Taif offers clues on the right governing formula for a new Syria

Questions of autonomy, integration, participation, and administration are key to resolving Syria's many disputes among its many groups. Could a 1989 agreement for Lebanon show the way?

Sihanouk Dibo 13 August 2025
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. Reuters

Fading hopes that the SDF will agree to Syrian integration

The autonomous Kurdish-led group in Syria's north-east has been protected by the US for a decade, but the move now is towards integration with Damascus. Unfortunately, the SDF has not got the memo.

Charles Lister 11 July 2025
SDF leader Mazloum Abdi (C) and Hamid Darbandi (C-R behind), envoy of Iraqi Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani, attend the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

In U-turn, Syrian Kurds are now demanding federalism

Having agreed on an outline for integration with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa last month, Kurdish-led groups have now issued a raft of contradictory demands, angering both Damascus and Ankara

Omer Onhon 30 April 2025
The US-led Operation Inherent Resolve coalition against the Islamic State (IS) trains SDF fighters in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Where does the counter-IS mission stand after Sharaa-SDF deal?

An SDF shift away from the US partnership and the risk of IS resurgence could undo years of hard-won progress in the fight against terrorism

Caroline Rose 21 April 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi during the signing of the agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, Damascus, March 10, 2025. AFP

Reading between the lines of the Sharaa-Abdi deal

Al Majalla's exclusive interview with YPG commander Mazloum Abdi gives great insight into a landmark deal reached between Damascus and Syria's Kurds. This is my take on what Abdi really meant.

Omer Onhon 14 March 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi during the signing of the agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, Damascus, March 10, 2025. AFP

Sharaa's political pragmatism and the myth of sectarianism

After a hugely important deal to integrate Syria's Kurds, there is a growing realisation among myriad factions that national unity is crucial for the country's survival

Ahmed Maher 13 March 2025
Yusra Na'im

Mazloum Abdi agrees to merge the SDF into Syria's state army

Al Majalla interviewed the SDF commander who shared his thinking prior to the landmark decision, which also guarantees constitutional rights for Syrian Kurds

Ibrahim Hamidi 11 March 2025
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US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman exchange a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during a ceremony at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 13 May 2025. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Politics

US-Saudi ties are the cornerstone of Trump’s Mideast policy

14 November 2025

When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House to meet with US President Donald Trump on 18 November, there will be no shortage of issues for the two leaders to discuss

Brian Katulis
This handout photograph released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on 10 November 2025, shows US President Donald Trump (L) shaking hands with Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House in Washington DC. SANA / AFP
Politics

Syria-US rapprochement sees cooperation surge

13 November 2025

Since Trump began lifting sanctions in May, no time has been wasted. US investment delegations have been flocking to Damascus, and security cooperation has already started.

Charles Lister
Sara Padovan
Politics

Is support for Israel becoming toxic at the ballot box? 

11 November 2025

As Americans rethink the moral—and strategic—calculus of US support for Israel, politicians are scrambling to keep pace

Alfred J. Naddaff
Ewan White
Politics

How Trump reshaped the world

03 November 2025

Al Majalla examines key developments in the US and across the globe less than a year into Trump's second presidential term

Al Majalla - London
Lina Jaradat
Politics

Israel's Olive War aims to uproot more than just trees

09 November 2025

The olive tree is no longer just a source of sustenance for West Bank Palestinians, but a silent witness to their profound struggle between permanence and erasure

Mohammed Najib

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OPINIONS

Renewing the Saudi-US partnership

Ibrahim Hamidi
Ibrahim Hamidi

Education: the missing pillar in the US–Saudi partnership

Daniel Benaim
Daniel Benaim

Legacy for legacy: why Saudi Arabia is seeking a US treaty

Abdullah F. Alrebh
Abdullah F. Alrebh

Iraq's establishment triumphs over hopes for change

Ayad Al-Anbar
Ayad Al-Anbar
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