The step-by-step approach to ending the crisis could possibly backfire, as happened in Lebanon with Hezbollah. Wider international support may help.

Both leaders used their platform in Jeddah to deliver subtle messages to their allies and enemies

Arab states will refrain from intervening in internal Arab conflicts but will help facilitate dialogue between the conflicting parties as the sole means for conflict resolution

A notable feature of this year's Arab summit is that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be attending for the first time since 2011

Exploration of the options available to Arab nationalists pursuing their perceived best interests across the Gulf prior to the birth of the Syrian state

Syria may receive rehabilitation from regional actors, however, it still faces isolation and continued punitive measures from the West at large

Amid Arab normalisation with Syria and Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, regional stakeholders will be closely watching how the situation unfolds and how regional dynamics evolve

In a wide-ranging interview with Al Majalla, one of the key figures in Syria's politics speaks out on diplomacy, the PKK's Abdullah Öcalan and the state of his own alliance with the US

Detailed plans to end Damascus' diplomatic isolation have been set out and shared with major global and regional powers. Al Majalla has seen them and outlines the promise and pitfalls that lie ahead.

This is the third IS leader to have been killed in 14 months — placing the leadership of the worldwide jihadist movement under serious and unprecedented strain