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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
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  • Tag
  • Syria

Lifting the veil on secret US-Assad talks

Al Majalla reveals the covert talks over several years between the representatives of a reluctant Syrian president and successive White House administrations hoping find a missing American.

Ibrahim Hamidi 21 May 2025
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in this handout released on May 14, 2025. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS

Why Trump decided to lift sanctions on Syria

Trump's decision to reverse decades of US policy on Syria within just a few hours in Riyadh reflects the weight of influence that Middle Eastern leaders can have on Trump's decision-making process

Caroline Rose 20 May 2025
Al Majalla

Trump's move to lift Syria sanctions begs more questions than answers

Trump's announcement and Rubio's subsequent statement offered no clear roadmap for unwinding Syria sanctions layered under multiple authorities

Matt Zweig 19 May 2025
Lina Jaradat

With his Syria gamble, Trump opens a door

Although he once deemed Syria unimportant, Trump now seems to realise how key it is to Arab states, whose cooperation he greatly values

Frederic C. Hof 18 May 2025
Israeli spy Eli Cohen.

This day in history: Israeli spy Eli Cohen executed in Damascus

On 18 May 1965, Eliyahu Cohen, an Egyptian Jew born in Alexandria, was hanged for espionage in Damascus after posing as a Muslim Arab merchant from Argentina

Sami Moubayed 18 May 2025

'Make Syria Great Again': how Sunni populism is reshaping post-war Syria

Promising a new golden age, neo-Umayyadism resonates with a broad spectrum of Syria's Sunni Arabs, particularly those from small towns and suburbs that had been disenfranchised under the Assad regime

Malik al-Abdeh 16 May 2025
People celebrate in Damascus' Omeyyad square after US President Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions in Syria, on May 13, 2025. Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP

Syria's long road to economic recovery can finally begin

Trump has lifted US sanctions, offering Syria a "chance at greatness". Despite lingering hurdles, for the first time in a long time, there is an electric sense of hope in the country.

Joseph Daher 15 May 2025
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) watching as US President Donald Trump (C) shakes hands with Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. Bandar AL-JALOUD / Saudi Royal Palace

Trump's lifting of Syria sanctions solidifies Iran's regional defeat

It could very well boost Israel's security as well as that of everyone else in the region

James Jeffrey 14 May 2025
American President Richard Nixon made an official visit to Damascus on June 15, 1974, and was welcomed by Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. Getty

From Nixon to Clinton: Syrian-American summits since 1945

Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, will meet Donald Trump in Riyadh today, making him the first Syrian leader to meet with a US president since Clinton's meeting with Hafez al-Assad in 2000

Sami Moubayed 14 May 2025
Lina Jaradat

Ahmed al-Sharaa: the Syrian president with much to prove

Al-Sharaa met Trump today in Riyadh, after the US president lifted sanctions on Syria on Tuesday, offering it "a chance at greatness". But who is the Syrian leader thrust into the global spotlight?

Bilal Saab 14 May 2025
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Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir pose with US President Donald Trump (C) at the White House in Washington, DC on 26 September 2025. AFP
Politics

Why Pakistan is well-placed to host US-Iran talks

24 March 2026

Islamabad is uniquely positioned to mediate between the warring parties. It also has more than enough reasons to want this war to end.

Kamal Alam
Axel Rangel Garcia
Business & Economy

Foreign workers in the Gulf pay the price of war

24 March 2026

Millions working in the Gulf are worried about their livelihoods and the impact on their families, while their employers are worried that they will leave

Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi
President of the European Council Charles Michel at the EU headquarters in Brussels on 28 June 2024. JOHN THYS / AFP
Politics

Former European Council president gets candid on US-Iran war

27 March 2026

In an interview with Al Majalla, Charles Michel explains how Trump didn't consult with allies before attacking Iran in a war that benefits Russia at Europe's expense

Ahmed Maher
Spanish writer Javier Cercas poses for a photo session during the 27th "Les Correspondances" literature festival in Manosque, southeastern France, on 27 September 2025. JOEL SAGET / AFP
Culture & Social Affairs

Javier Cercas on why novels thrive on ambiguity

26 March 2026

The Spanish novelist and professor shares his musings on memory, moral courage, deception and faith

Nesrein El-Bakhshawangy
Al Majalla
Politics

Sipan Hamo on integrating Kurdish units into the army

26 March 2026

In Part 2 of a two-part interview, the newly appointed deputy defence minister outlines the mistakes made by the SDF and gives his outlook on Syria's future.

Ibrahim Hamidi

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OPINIONS

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Alaa Emara

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