Syria's government needs to centralise decision-making and bring armed groups to heel, but Kurds in the north-east want to establish a 'coalition of the unwilling' with Druze and Alawites. What now?
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.
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.
This Druze-dominated city that has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days may be a single governorate, but it is home to myriad armed groups with sometimes conflicting agendas.
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
Tel Aviv does not want a military power led by former Islamists on its doorstep, so is throwing a protective missile system around Syria's minorities, whether they want it or not. Will it backfire?
The issue of the Druze mountain predates the modern Syrian state itself, but has resurfaced following recent Israeli statements about their intent to "protect" Syria's Druze
The two-state solution is on life support. Israel's genocide in Gaza and its relentless building of settlements in the West Bank are actively destroying the viability of a Palestinian state.
US envoy Tom Barrack has been shuffling between the two countries ahead of the UN General Assembly in a bid to get something concrete signed this week in New York
For decades, Riyadh and Islamabad have been on the same page when it comes to defence and security, but their alliance has always been based on understandings. That is now evolving.
The US is witnessing a brutal 'unchaining' of lone operators, with political violence no longer isolated incidents but a recurring phenomenon that feeds on itself
The Dutch novelist is famous for capturing the rhythm and style of the poets who became the forefathers of hip-hop, but her work has also brought civil rights leaders and refugees to life