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النسخة العربية
  • Politics
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  • Syrian economy

LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
A worker pushes a hand truck past a shop selling spices at the old market in Damascus ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday on 26 May 2026. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

Syria’s private-sector workers are finding their voice

Recent strikes show how workers are beginning to use Syria's expanded civic space to make economic and social demands. The government should see this as a warning, but also an opportunity.

Haid Haid 24 June 2026
Eduardo Ramon

The return of Al-Jazira and the question of Syria’s economic renewal

As Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Hasakah return to state authority, this resource-rich region re-emerges as a cornerstone of economic recovery

Hussein al-Sharaa 06 February 2026
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) speaks during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh on 29 October 2025. RANIA SANJAR / AFP

Syria's obstacles to investment are many

Ambition is key to recovery, but so is realism about the road ahead. Lingering sanctions, legal ambiguity, poor transparency, and weak institutions continue to deter serious investment.

Haid Haid 20 November 2025
A sheep herder near the Rumaylan military site in northeastern Syria, January 8, 2025 AFP

Resource-rich yet underdeveloped, Syria’s northeast could pay dividends

The land between the Euphrates and Tigris yields oil, water, and wheat, to name but three, yet it has had no infrastructure investment for decades. As a result, it is unproductive. That could change.

Attiya Khalaf Al-Attiya 11 February 2025
Stacks of Syrian pound banknotes are piled on a currency trader's stall at a market in the city of Manbij, currently controlled by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, in the Aleppo province on January 4, 2025. Aaref WATAD / AFP

Sanctions relief alone won’t kickstart Syria's economy

Without a coordinated international effort to lift sanctions, Syria will struggle to secure foreign investment

Léa Eid 10 February 2025
A US dollar note is placed on a stack of Syrian pounds at a market in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeast Syria on September 10, 2019. AFP / Delil SOULEIMAN

Rebuilding Syria's economy will be challenging but comes with reward

Estimates of reconstruction costs range up to $500bn, and most Syrians only get a few hours of electricity per day. The country's priorities are numerous and urgent, but amid the gloom, there is hope.

Abdelkader Hasria 27 January 2025
Dr Maysa Sabrin, Syria's newly-appointed central bank governor Axel Rangel Garcia

Syria becomes first Arab state with woman central bank chief

Maysa Sabrin joins illustrious figures such as Russia's Elvira Nabiullina, Europe's Christine Lagarde, and America's Janet Yellen, proving women heading central banks is no longer a rarity

Toufic Chanbour 16 January 2025
A container crane at the port of Latakia in western Syria on 30 December 2024. Aaref Watad / AFP

Syria’s new rulers to audit Iran loan spending for illegalities

While financial obligations outlive regimes, Damascus may be able to show that some of the $7.6bn in loans from Tehran was spent repressing the Syrian people—and that Iran knew about it

Joseph Daher 31 December 2024
A man looks out to the devastation while clearing rubble and debris from a house at the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees south of Damascus on December 22, 2024. MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Syria begins to piece together a country and economy in ruins

War caused its GDP to fall by 86%, leaving 69% of Syrians impoverished. Regime change brings hope for an economy once one of the Middle East's strongest. This is its story and a look ahead.

Abdulfattah Khattab 24 December 2024
Syrian Red Crescent rescuers attend to displaced people arriving from Lebanon at the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria on October 7, 2024. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

War in Lebanon puts Syria's already struggling economy under further strain

Syria's deep economic reliance on Lebanon, shaped by years of conflict and international sanctions, has made regime-held areas particularly vulnerable to Lebanon's economic and political instability

Haid Haid 13 October 2024
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A US Navy sailor directs a Eurocopter AS-332 Super Puma helicopter on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is supporting US military operations in the war with Iran on 16 August 2026. US. Navy/REUTERS
Politics

US troops leave Iraq and Syria, but double down in the region

30, Sep 2026

Why 30 September should be understood less as a US exit from the Middle East than as the end of a particular model of American intervention

Caroline Rose
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping view portraits of former US presidents at the White House, Washington, DC, on 24 September 2026. Reuters
Politics

US-China summit: did Xi get what he wanted?

29, Sep 2026

Why the Chinese president's visit to Washington could be considered a success, despite no big movement on trade, Taiwan, and technology

Charbel Barakat
Al Majalla
Business & Economy

How the oil crises of 1973 and today differ

30, Sep 2026

While the world is much better prepared this time around, vulnerabilities remain

Abdel-Rahman Ayas
Moroccan Foreign Minister Bourita & Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar agreed to advance their
relationship on security, trade, and regional integration on 16 September 2026. @USAmbUN/X
Politics

Morocco expands ties with Israel: why now?

28, Sep 2026

After months of behind‑the‑scenes talks, Rabat and Tel Aviv are deepening ties under a new phase of the existing Abraham Accords, with Western Sahara being dangled as an incentive

Mohamed Sharki
Soldiers from the Ethiopian National Defence Force chant slogans after completing their training at an officers' training ground 70 kilometres northeast of the city of Gondar, Ethiopia, on 14 September 2021. AFP
Politics

Turmoil in Tigray: the view from Ethiopia's neighbours

30, Sep 2026

While many would like to see Addis Ababa distracted, they also worry about a refugee spillover should a civil war break out. It might be a case of 'be careful what you wish for'

Sergey Eledinov

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OPINIONS

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US troops leave Iraq and Syria, but double down in the region

Caroline Rose
Caroline Rose

How the oil crises of 1973 and today differ

Abdel-Rahman Ayas
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