In what could be a historic turning point in US-Syria relations, the new government in Damascus will likely join the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS)

Created by then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the Rapid Support Forces have ripped the country in two. This is what happens when a state gives up its monopoly on the legitimate use of force.

Ahmed al-Sharaa will be the first Syrian president to be welcomed at the White House on Monday. From Nixon to Clinton, Al Majalla looks back at official encounters between the two states since 1945.

Around 11,000 factories nationwide are now classified as "distressed". Their survival hinges on swift and targeted intervention, which the government is attempting to do.

He will be expected to play an active role in getting Iraq to disband armed factions, as pressure from Washington is expected to intensify

His belief that Palestine was an uninhabited land—a blank canvas devoid of people or history—betrays a mindset just as colonial as his grand uncle, Arthur Balfour

Having lost most of its weaponry, fighters, and supply lines, the group can no longer respond as it once did. It no longer cites the right to resist, nor does it seek to impose a deterrent.

Those who are able to bury their dead are among the lucky. For others, not knowing the fate of their missing loved ones or receiving mutilated corpses impossible to identify adds insult to injury.

After 54 years in exile, a prominent Syrian novelist returns to a Damascus he no longer recognises