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the city of Sweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Syria July 18, 2025. Reuters

Illicit economies play big role in Syria’s post-Assad flashpoints

In areas like Daraa and Sweida, local groups are elbowing their way into some of the smuggling voids left by Assad's army and pro-Iranian groups like Hezbollah. That means more to fight over.

Caroline Rose 02 August 2025
A currency exchange shop in the Syrian capital Damascus, on April 16, 2025. AFP

Towards a structural plan to drive development in Syria

Damascus is getting help from abroad, but it needs to set its economic stall out with a plan to rebuild its economy. An organised and disciplined fiscal and monetary policy will keep bankruptcy at bay

Hussein al-Sharaa 31 July 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
a mural depicting Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt (bottom, R) and Syrian Druze nationalist leader Sultan al-Atrash, in the predominantly Druze city of Beit Jann on November 16, 2023. John MacDougall/AFP

Druze political figures who transformed Syrian history

For more than a century, Druze soldiers and politicians have made their mark on today's Syria. They are still writing their own history, as the recent Sweida violence shows.

Sami Moubayed 25 July 2025
A member of Syrian security forces stands near a vehicle carrying aid as they make their way to Sweida, at Bosra al-Sham town, near Deraa, Syria July 23, 2025. Karam al-Masri/Reuters

After Sweida: the path to peace just got more complicated

The terrible violence in southern Syria this month shows what needs to be done by all actors, and shows what fate awaits if they do not.

Michael Harari 24 July 2025
A member of the Internal Security Forces stands watch at a checkpoint in the village of Al-Mazra'a, after days of violence in Sweida between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, on 20 July 2025. Karam al-Masri/Reuters

Solution needed: Sweida’s ceasefire is a pause, not peace

The guns may have fallen silent but in Syria's Druze-dominated southern city, they have enforced the status quo. That is dangerous, since it fails to recognise that Syria has now fundamentally changed

Haid Haid 21 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
The Great Colonnade (Decumanus Maximus) at Palmyra, one of six Syrian sites on the UNESCO elite list of world heritage. All of them sustained some level of damage in the 13-year civil war. Omar Haj Kadour/AFP

The plundering of Syria's cultural heritage - Part 2

The second instalment of a two-part investigation into the unprecedented looting of Syria's archaeological sites, Al Majalla uncovers the destruction of a rich archaeological landscape

Abdul Rahman Mazhar Halloush 18 July 2025
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf testifies during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the US Capitol on November 8, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images via AFP

Barbara Leaf: sectarian power-sharing not the answer in Syria

Al Majalla spoke to a seasoned diplomat who helped shape American policy on the Middle East during Joe Biden's presidency, asking her about Syria, US engagement, Iran, and Palestine.

Ahmed Maher 17 July 2025
A visitor makes sketches at Palmyra. During their occupation of the site from 2015, Islamic State (IS) jihadists reduced several temples, columns, and other treasures to heaps of stone. Omar Haj Kadour/AFP

The plundering of Syria’s cultural heritage - Part 1

The first instalment of a two-part investigation into the unprecedented looting of Syria's archaeological sites, Al Majalla uncovers the destruction of a rich archaeological landscape

Abdul Rahman Mazhar Halloush 16 July 2025
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Lina Jaradat
Politics

The Houthis: the new Hezbollah?

24, Sep 2026

Just as Iran used Hezbollah to expand its influence in the Levant, it is now using the Houthis to give it leverage in Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea amid its war with the US

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla
Culture & Social Affairs

Backlash over Macklemore ban shows major US culture shift

16, Sep 2026

The American rapper's removal from Ed Sheeran's tour over his 'Free Palestine' speech and the British singer's meek rebuttal sparked an uproar on social media

Samer Abou Hawwach
A rebel fighter seen behind a Kingdom of Libya flag near the front line along the western entrance gate of Ajdabiyah, on 18 April 2011. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Politics

A tale of two Libya's: internal division meets external unity

19, Sep 2026

In Libya today, things have never been better. They have also never been worse. Just depends on who you ask

Tarek Megerisi
Axel Rangel García
Politics

Francesca Albanese: the Palestine question is a global one

16, Sep 2026

In an interview with Al Majalla, the UN Special Rapporteur says the backlash against her for speaking out against Israel's genocide in Gaza reveals much about the current international order

Elie Kossaifi
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares a moment with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on during day two of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, on 13 September 2026. REUTERS
Politics

Only China, India, and Russia can end the Iran war

15, Sep 2026

Washington needs its rivals to create peace on its behalf

Amir Handjani

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OPINIONS

The Houthis: Iran’s bargaining chip with Washington

Alex Vatanka
Alex Vatanka

Falah Al-Saidi's art: where memory recasts reality 

Mimoza Al-Arrawi
Mimoza Al-Arrawi

Israelis' eroding trust in government is on the ballot

Stephanie L. Freid
Stephanie L. Freid

The Houthis: the new Hezbollah?

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London
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