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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
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  • Syria

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
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa with Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and others in Damascus on 21 December 2024. They are now trying to create a parliament. Reuters

Between hope and doubt: the making of Syria’s new Parliament

While sham elections have been seen before, a genuinely representative elected legislature has not. The opportunity is huge, and early signs are good, but there are still far too many questions.

Haid Haid 13 July 2025
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. Reuters

Fading hopes that the SDF will agree to Syrian integration

The autonomous Kurdish-led group in Syria's north-east has been protected by the US for a decade, but the move now is towards integration with Damascus. Unfortunately, the SDF has not got the memo.

Charles Lister 11 July 2025
Israeli army soldiers add zip ties to the mast of an Israeli flag flying at a special area for exercises during a military drill in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on July 8, 2025. Jalaa Marey/AFP

Why Syria and Israel should walk, not run, towards peace

This is a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to agree a détente between two hostile neighbours, but getting there is tricky. Several issues must (but can) be overcome.

Michael Harari 11 July 2025
A member of the Syrian security forces searches a defunct drug factory inside an abandoned building near the village of Hawik in the countryside of Al-Qusayr on February 12, 2025. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

Redefining counter-narcotics in a new Syria

Challenges lie ahead for the new Syrian government as it seeks to close the gap in security policy

Caroline Rose 07 July 2025
A Syrian rebel fighter holds a container of pills of Captagon discovered at a drug manufacturing facility in the city of Douma on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on December 12, 2024. Bakr ALKASEM / AFP

Wasim al-Assad’s arrest is a big win for Syria's war on crime

The arrest of a key player in the former regime's security and illicit apparatus represents a new level of capacity for Syria's new leaders

Caroline Rose 03 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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AFP / Al Majalla
Politics

Trump's Board of Peace gives hints of his vision for a new world order

24 January 2026

Critics worry the BOP is a bid to dismantle the post-1945 international order and replace it with structures under the US president's direct control, with scope stretching well beyond Gaza

Tarek Rashed
Opinion

The battle for the state is reshaping regional alliances

18 January 2026

From Yemen and Syria to Sudan and Libya, there is a concerted effort to reassert state authority and thwart moves toward the proliferation of quasi-states and fragmentation

Ibrahim Hamidi
Al Majalla
Politics

'Gaza has broken every record of modern warfare'

23 January 2026

Former Médecins Sans Frontières president Rony Brauman explains to Al Majalla how Israel's war on Gaza has produced unprecedented suffering and exposed the collapse of international law

Elie Kossaifi
Al Majalla
Culture & Social Affairs

Al Majalla's Film Watch: the best of Youssef Chahine

23 January 2026

On the centenary of his birth, Al Majalla highlights some of the many standout films of the legendary Egyptian director's illustrious career

Areej Jamal
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
Politics

The SDF: from chosen US security partner to liability

21 January 2026

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

Subhi Franjieh

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OPINIONS

Four miscalculations by the SDF

Ibrahim Hamidi
Ibrahim Hamidi

Greenland: the frozen Arctic island that Trump wants

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London

Lebanon's handling of Syrian prisoners will be telling

Alia Mansour
Alia Mansour

Lebanon finds an anthem out of the reach of drones

Samer Abou Hawwach
Samer Abou Hawwach
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