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  • Syria

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
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
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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (R) and Deputy Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi react as they listen to President Hassan Rouhani (unseen) speaking during a press conference in Tehran on 3 April 2015 ATTA KENARE / AFP
Politics

Zarif’s peace gambit meets Tehran’s limits

15 April 2026

Tehran can likely contemplate a deal, but it is far less clear that it can yet imagine lasting peace

Alex Vatanka
Julian D. Paulsen
Business & Economy

Tight squeeze: economic effects of Iran war linger despite truce

13 April 2026

A two-week truce has sparked a cautious market rebound, but deep anxiety persists over renewed escalation and its impact on global growth and inflation

Abdulfattah Khattab
Jared Kushner and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif interact in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 11 April 2026. Jacquelyn Martin/ REUTERS
Politics

‘Kushner and Witkoff spoiled the US-Iran talks’

13 April 2026

Sources tell Al Majalla that Iran was able to build a rapport with US Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, but sensed his hands were tied in the presence of Trump's son-in-law and close friend

Kamal Alam
Al Majalla
Business & Economy

The Iran war exposed the fragility of Europe’s economy

15 April 2026

Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and rising energy prices are exposing the structural vulnerabilities of Europe's economy

Mohamed Sharki
Opinion

Lebanon’s Shiites are fighting a two-front war

15 April 2026

The first is on the border against Israel, which seeks to seize their land and drive them northwards; the second is within Lebanon itself, against a state that seeks to marginalise them

Houssam Itani

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OPINIONS

Yanbu: from Saudi safety valve to Gulf export hub?

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London

Glimpses of Bush's Iraq debacle appear in Trump's foray into Iran

Robert Ford
Robert Ford

The Iran war exposed the fragility of Europe’s economy

Mohamed Sharki
Mohamed Sharki

Farasan, the literature of the sea, and the poetics of place

Jaber Muhammad Madkhali
Jaber Muhammad Madkhali
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