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
  • Syria

A man walks past a mural depicting SDF supporters raising a flag showing the face of Abdullah Öcalan, the founding leader of the PKK, in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on December 16, 2024. Delil Souleiman/AFP

The SDF: from chosen US security partner to liability

How a regional and international climate increasingly aligned with Damascus is placing pressure on the Syrian Democratic Forces to prioritise Syrian unity

Subhi Franjieh 24 January 2026

Trump to SDF: 'Your services are no longer needed'

Fares Garabet 22 January 2026
Syrians celebrate in Raqqa on 19 January 2026, after Syria and the SDF struck a wide-ranging deal to bring Kurdish civilian and military authorities under central government control on Sunday. REUTERS / Karam al-Masri

Why Syrian army gains against the SDF unnerve Israel

Israeli media have painted the "defeat of the Kurds" as a win for Türkiye, while Israel's military worries that this may carry negative implications for its presence in the Golan

Michael Harari 21 January 2026
A man holds a Syrian flag as a group of civilians smash a statue of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the city of Tabqa after the Syrian army took control of it, in Tabqa, Syria, on 18 January 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

How the SDF's hand was twisted into Syria integration

A decisive Syrian military campaign, coupled with diplomatic pressure from Türkiye, the US, and Israel, has forced the SDF into a far-reaching integration deal with Damascus

Omer Onhon 19 January 2026
Government forces patrol the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood after taking control of the area, following the collapse of an agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF, in Aleppo, Syria, on 10 January 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

What next for Syria after tenuous Aleppo ceasefire?

It remains unclear if Damascus's move to kick the Kurds out of Aleppo will pressure the SDF to implement the 10 March deal to integrate its forces into the Syrian army or harden its resolve to resist

Haid Haid 10 January 2026
Buses wait to enter the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood to evacuate US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) force fighters from two districts of the city of Aleppo, northern Syria, on 9 January 2026. Bakr ALkasem / AFP

Clashes in Aleppo may be the creaking before the earthquake

If fighting spreads beyond the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud and beyond Aleppo, there is a real risk that Syria could be dragged into a new civil war

Omer Onhon 10 January 2026
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner deliver remarks upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine during the Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris on 6 January 2026. LUDOVIC MARIN /AFP

Israel-Syria security talks make headway in Paris

The US has made it clear that securing a deal is a key priority, and it will be looking to pick up the pace of talks ahead of Israeli elections later this year

Michael Harari 08 January 2026
Men recover at the Karm al-Louz Hospital following an explosion at the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque, in Homs, on 26 December 2025. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Alawite protests return. But this time, they turn deadly.

The latest demonstrations, killing four and injuring 100, reveal the limits of containment, the cost of postponing accountability, and the risks of trading short-term calm for durable legitimacy

Haid Haid 03 January 2026
People stand outside the Justice Palace after first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year, in Aleppo on 18 November 2025. BAKR ALKASEM / AFP

Fresh UK sanctions on Syria send a message

London is making it clear that it expects more than just symbolic gestures from Damascus when it comes to holding security forces accountable for atrocities

Haid Haid 27 December 2025
A picture of Farid al-Madhan, known as "Caesar," wearing a blue robe in the US Congress.
 Reuters/ Al Majalla

Syria's new post-sanctions test

Damascus finally gets breathing room after the US repealed its draconian Caesar sanctions, but it can't exhale just yet. Al Majalla explains why.

Haid Haid 22 December 2025
  •  Load More
  • Popular
  • Editor's Pick
Mark Smith
Politics

Trump’s deal: repercussions in the Gulf, Iran, and Israel

18 June 2026

The MOU reached by the two warring nations forces a rethink of the Middle East's political, security, and economic landscape

Al Majalla - London
Opinion

Hormuz may reopen, but the deal is strewn with mines

21 June 2026

Perhaps Lebanon, not the nuclear file, will become the real test of the agreement's ability to survive

Ibrahim Hamidi
Al Majalla
Politics

New laws will embed Israel in US security agencies

16 June 2026

Legislation to fund the American military and intelligence services will include requirements that Israeli defence firms be involved in sensitive projects and that classified information be shared

Robert Ford
Business & Economy

Hormuz is open, but obstacles to trade still linger

22 June 2026

Even if diplomatic progress continues, the Strait could be closed again. As a result, the geopolitical risk premium attached to Gulf energy exports is unlikely to disappear entirely.

Neil Quilliam
A painting by the Egyptian artist George Bahgory from the series “Love and Football”.
George Bahgoury via Facebook
Culture & Social Affairs

Football and art: fusing a popular sport with culture

22 June 2026

Artists use paintings, sculpture, murals, and digital designs to iconise, idolise, and mythologise football culture in a language understood by all

Mimoza Al-Arrawi

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

Rubio seeks to reassure Gulf states over Iran deal

Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin

10 books that showcase how football mirrors the world

Bahaa Iy'ali

Egypt looks to EVs to slash $21bn in fuel imports

Amr Emam
Amr Emam

Israeli attacks make a mockery of Lebanon ceasefire

Fares Garabet
Fares Garabet
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