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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
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  • Syria

People hold a large Syrian opposition flag at Umayyad Square in Damascus on December 9, 2024. Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP

The history of Syria's not-so-new flag

A flag that has become synonymous with opposition to Assad rule was actually the flag of the first Syrian Republic under French mandate. Al Majalla debunks regime lies about what this flag represents.

Sami Moubayed 11 December 2024
An Iranian man reads a newspaper with a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Tehran, Iran December 8, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

Syria and the future of Iran

If it's not careful, Tehran could soon experience what their Syrian client just did: the sudden implosion of a rotten regime 

Frederic C. Hof 10 December 2024

Assad flees Syria after lightening opposition offensive

Fares Garabet 09 December 2024
A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama following its capture. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Assad's fall: The end of an era

In just over a week, a lightning rebel offensive has collapsed five decades of draconian Assad rule. Al Majalla looks back at the political career of the former Syrian president.

Sami Moubayed 08 December 2024
A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama following its capture. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Why did Assad fall so easily?

After over two decades of rule, following three decades of his father Hafez al-Assad's rule, Bashar has fled following a lightning rebel offensive that swept the country

Omer Onhon 07 December 2024
A protester holds a poster with an image of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol during a candlelight rally calling for the ouster of the president in Gwanghwamun in Seoul on December 5, 2024. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP

Are democracies doomed to gridlock and dysfunction?

From France to South Korea, US democratic allies are descending into political chaos

Emma Ashford and Matthew Kroenig 07 December 2024
Fighters drive past an "I Love Hama" sign, which has been repainted in the colours of Syria's opposition flag, in Hama, after anti-government fighters captured the city, on December 6, 2024. Bakr AL KASSEM / AFP

Hama's fall turns another page on its long and bloody history

One of Syria's four largest cities, Hama's history pre-dates Christianity. However, it is most famously known for a bloody assault carried out by Hafez al-Assad in 1982, which killed thousands.

Manaf Saad 06 December 2024
Islamist-led rebels pose for a picture with a Syria army helicopter on the tarmac at the Nayrab military airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024, after a surprise lightning offensive on November 30. AAREF WATAD / AFP

Why Assad’s regime is collapsing so quickly

After taking Aleppo and Hama, armed Syrian opposition factions are making their way further south as the regime increasingly appears to be hollowing out

Charles Lister 05 December 2024
An opposition fighter fires a rocket against Syrian government forces, in the northern outskirts of Syria's west-central city of Hama on December 4, 2024

A weak Assad benefits Turkey—and is a headache for Trump

After years of relative quiet, renewed fighting in Syria could be the new US administration's first major foreign policy challenge

Jeremy Hodge and Hussein Nasser 05 December 2024

Netanyahu's revolving wars

Fares Garabet 05 December 2024
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Eduardo Ramon
Politics

China is not scared of Trump’s squeeze on Iran

04 September 2026

Beijing has plenty of leverage to deter Washington

Henry Tugendhat
Underwater image of a diver among fish at the North Seymour Island dive site in the Galapagos archipelago, Ecuador, taken on 8 March 2024. ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP
Business & Economy

The global race for rare earths reaches the ocean floor

07 September 2026

A critical mineral found on Japan's seabed has caught US attention, and the two are teaming up to see whether it can yield future benefits and reduce their dependence on China

Abdulfattah Khattab
Raven Jiang
Politics

From the war on terror to networked security

07 September 2026

The main change since 9/11 is that military security has become one component of a much wider security ecosystem

Lina Khatib
Japanese director Takashi Miike at an event for the film 'Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki' IMDb
Culture & Social Affairs

Takeshi Miike's new Kabuki documentary surprises critics

06 September 2026

For a filmmaker who has spent decades challenging norms, a film about traditional Japanese theatre seems like an odd choice. At the Venice Film Festival, he explains to Al Majalla why it is not.

Leila Amar
Sara Padovan
Politics

Donald Trump and the new Latin American right

04 September 2026

Across Central and South America, a raft of right-wingers borrow from each other's playbooks and ride on the US president's coattails to win elections and power. Is it ideology or practicality?

Stefanie Butendieck Hijerra

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