state-building

The largest Syrian flag was raised on the highest pole, 110 meters high, in Tishreen Park in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on June 4.

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

Bedouin families who left Sweida take a shelter at a school in the village of El Sahoah in Deraa Governorate, Syria, July 28, 2025.

Yamam Al Shaar / Reuters

Sweida violence: a good day for Israel, a bad day for Syria

Damascus fell into a trap when it sent its troops racing south as fighting erupted between Druze and Bedouins. Why? Because in Israel's arc of fragmentation, Syria is the last piece of the puzzle.

Majed Kayali 29 July 2025

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen backs the central government's desire for sovereignty over its territory but says that, in a transition period, this is best done through dialogue and by building trust.

Al Majalla/AFP

UN envoy to Syria: true loyalty to the state cannot be coerced

Geir Pedersen condemns Israeli strikes and urges genuine dialogue between Syrian authorities and the local Druze community in Sweida.

Ibrahim Hamidi 18 July 2025

Lina Jaradat

Administration is integral to Syria’s state-building task

'Look to the woman,' as the French say, for it is the woman that runs the household. Likewise, it is the state's administration that runs the ministries and achieves the objectives set by ministers.

Hussein al-Sharaa 02 July 2025

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump at the White House, Washington, on 18 November 2025.

SPA

Politics

Saudi Arabia scores ally upgrade in Washington

19 November 2025

Trump elevates Saudi Arabia to 'major non-NATO ally' status, but bigger issues of normalisation with Israel and a binding security treaty need more time. Nonetheless, this is a huge step forward.

Abdullah F. Alrebh

Culture & Social Affairs

Basem Khandakji on exile, imprisonment, and purpose

26 November 2025

The Palestinian novelist who won the Arabic Booker Prize in 2023 from behind Israeli prison walls speaks to Al Majalla about his extraordinary life and literary journey

El-Sayed Hussein

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) looks on during a meeting with US Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 20 November 2025.

AFP

Politics

Trump presents Ukraine with a ‘very tough choice’

24 November 2025

Zelensky said he's being asked to decide between Ukraine losing its dignity or losing a key partner

Sam Skove and John Haltiwanger

AFP-Reuters-Al Majalla

Business & Economy

UK chancellor aims to strike a balance with her 2025 budget

27 November 2025

Policymakers' main worry ahead of Rachel Reeves' announcements this week centred on the reaction of the bond markets. So far, they have received a cautious welcome.

Bassam Mahfouz

US political commentator Tucker Carlson speaks during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 18 July 2024.

ANGELA WEISS / AFP

Politics

How Tucker Carlson put Arab Christians on America's map

25 November 2025

Prominent conservative journalists and politicians have broken ranks to call out Israeli crimes against Arab Christians. The effects continue to ripple through Donald Trump's support base.

Kamal Alam