ع
Sections
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
Regions
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
More
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • Newsletter

LATEST ISSUE

Latest Issue
Magazine Archive
النسخة العربية
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Tag
  • SDF
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, Apr 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, Apr 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, Mar 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, Mar 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, Mar 2025
A man walks close to a fire raging at a facility in al-Qahtaniyah in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on October 5, 2023.

SDF-HTS standoff: Best and worst-case scenarios

While solving the SDF situation in itself will not guarantee success for the larger Syria project, failing to integrate them will almost certainly torpedo that project

James Jeffrey 31, Jan 2025

SDF on shaky ground in new Syria

Fares Garabet 23, Dec 2024
A man walks close to a fire raging at a facility in al-Qahtaniyah in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on October 5, 2023. AFP

Turkey warns neighbours and NATO partner after Ankara attack

Increased cross-border operations have followed an attack claimed by the PKK in Ankara as frustration grows over the seeming unwillingness of allies to admit links and act accordingly

Shelly Kittleson 05, Oct 2023
Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks with AFP during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah. AFP

Mazloum Abdi: Syria, Iran, and Turkey 'incited' Arab tribes to attack the SDF

The SDF commander rejects demands to disband his forces and tells Al Majalla in an exclusive interview that US-Russian tension east of the Euphrates is 'under control'

Ibrahim Hamidi 24, Sep 2023
Syrian Arabs in the SDF-held city of Shuhail in the Deir ez-Zor region. May 20, 2019. Shelly Kittleson

Mounting tensions in eastern Syria boil over in 'tribal' uprising

The conflict in Deir ez-Zor marks some of the most serious internal strife within the SDF since the creation of the US-backed forces in late 2015.

Shelly Kittleson 10, Sep 2023
  •  Load More
  • Popular
  • Editor's Pick
Lina Jaradat
Politics

Attacks on Iran make a nuclear bomb more likely

20 June 2025

Iran's nuclear programme is damaged, but its determination is heightened

Eric Brewer
Michelle Thompson.
Business & Economy

What would happen if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz?

18 June 2025

The strait carries up to 20% of the world's oil exports at around 20 million barrels of oil each day. Any closure could cost the global economy greatly, even if only for a short time.

Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi
A demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while gathering with others during a rally in solidarity with the government against Israel's attacks on Iran on June 14, 2025. ATTA KENARE / AFP
Politics

Iran is further from regime change than Israel thinks

17 June 2025

Israel sees an opportunity to eliminate a strategic regional rival, but the future course of events primarily hinges on what Trump decides to do next

Houssam Itani
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses Iranians on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (portrait), in Tehran on June 4, 2025. KHAMENEI.IR / AFP
Profiles

Ali Khamenei: the guardian of Iran's strategic patience doctrine

21 June 2025

For decades, Iran's supreme leader—first Khomeini, then Khamenei—pursued a strategy of backing regional militias to fight Israel, but with the 'resistance axis' in tatters, Iran is left to fight alone

Arash Azizi
Eduardo Ramon
Politics

How Israel pulled off its unprecedented strike on Iran

18 June 2025

Years of painstaking intelligence work went into the operation that activated vast networks of operatives and involved multiple layers of subterfuge

Michael Horowitz

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter

Get the best of Al Majalla, straight to your inbox.

Your newsletter subscriptions are subject to Al Majalla privacy policy and terms and conditions.

OPINIONS

Israeli and Iranian claims of victory ring hollow

Houssam Itani
Houssam Itani

What Daraa’s assassinations say about Syria’s transition

Haid Haid
Haid Haid

Tunisia’s Tabarka: land of jazz, cork, red coral and nightingales

Ibrahim Tutunji
Ibrahim Tutunji

Shaky Israel-Iran ceasefire points to unfinished business

Michael Horowitz
Michael Horowitz
MORE FROM OPINIONS
logo
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • About Al Majalla
  • Al Majalla Team
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact us
logo

© Al Majalla Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

0:00:00
0:00:00