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  • SDF

AFP_Al Majalla

Forging Syrian national unity is key to regional peace

Damascus has already taken steps towards this end, but international support will still be vital. It can also draw on relevant elements from Iraq's governing model.

James Jeffrey 22 October 2025
Al Majalla

Ilham Ahmed on negotiating Syria’s future

In a wide-ranging sitdown interview with Al Majalla, AANES Foreign Affairs Chief Ilham Ahmed lays out the lingering points of contention with Damascus and the way forward

Ibrahim Hamidi 03 October 2025
The "Unity of Position" conference, held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hasakah on August 8, 2025. Social media

Heading for a showdown? SDF conference riles Damascus

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?

Subhi Franjieh 13 August 2025
The largest Syrian flag was raised on the highest pole, 110 meters high, in Tishreen Park in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on June 4. Getty

Taif offers clues on the right governing formula for a new Syria

Questions of autonomy, integration, participation, and administration are key to resolving Syria's many disputes among its many groups. Could a 1989 agreement for Lebanon show the way?

Sihanouk Dibo 13 August 2025
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters sit on a vehicle in the north of Raqqa city, Syria. Reuters

Fading hopes that the SDF will agree to Syrian integration

The autonomous Kurdish-led group in Syria's north-east has been protected by the US for a decade, but the move now is towards integration with Damascus. Unfortunately, the SDF has not got the memo.

Charles Lister 11 July 2025
SDF leader Mazloum Abdi (C) and Hamid Darbandi (C-R behind), envoy of Iraqi Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani, attend the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

In U-turn, Syrian Kurds are now demanding federalism

Having agreed on an outline for integration with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa last month, Kurdish-led groups have now issued a raft of contradictory demands, angering both Damascus and Ankara

Omer Onhon 30 April 2025
The US-led Operation Inherent Resolve coalition against the Islamic State (IS) trains SDF fighters in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022. Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Where does the counter-IS mission stand after Sharaa-SDF deal?

An SDF shift away from the US partnership and the risk of IS resurgence could undo years of hard-won progress in the fight against terrorism

Caroline Rose 21 April 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi during the signing of the agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, Damascus, March 10, 2025. AFP

Reading between the lines of the Sharaa-Abdi deal

Al Majalla's exclusive interview with YPG commander Mazloum Abdi gives great insight into a landmark deal reached between Damascus and Syria's Kurds. This is my take on what Abdi really meant.

Omer Onhon 14 March 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi during the signing of the agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, Damascus, March 10, 2025. AFP

Sharaa's political pragmatism and the myth of sectarianism

After a hugely important deal to integrate Syria's Kurds, there is a growing realisation among myriad factions that national unity is crucial for the country's survival

Ahmed Maher 13 March 2025
Yusra Na'im

Mazloum Abdi agrees to merge the SDF into Syria's state army

Al Majalla interviewed the SDF commander who shared his thinking prior to the landmark decision, which also guarantees constitutional rights for Syrian Kurds

Ibrahim Hamidi 11 March 2025
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AFP-Al Majalla
Business & Economy

Saudi investment summit convenes at a pivotal moment for the region

25 October 2025

It will be the largest gathering since the inception of the Future Investment Initiative in 2017, with 600 speakers set to address the four-day event and an impressive lineup of attendees

Maher Chmaytelli
People walk amid the destruction in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip on October 11, 2025, a day after a ceasefire took effect. AFP
Politics

Gaza's partition: Palestinian peril dressed up as pragmatism

26 October 2025

Presented as post-war stabilisation, an experiment in controlled fragmentation appears to be underway, with diplomacy, security, and commerce converging to cement a new geopolitical order

Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy
Al Majalla
Politics

Japan quietly prepares itself amid China's rise

23 October 2025

While the world discusses Beijing's ascendancy and the rivalry among great powers, Tokyo forges its own path—one dotted with patience, discipline, and strength

Ibrahim Hamidi
Al Majalla
Politics

Is the US going to war with Venezuela?

26 October 2025

A string of recent statements from US President Donald Trump, coupled with American naval deployments this month, makes for a compelling case. But could this just be psychological warfare?

Tarek Rashed
Lina Jaradat
Politics

Why Gen Z is so mad

24 October 2025

Economic displacement driven by AI has alienated an entire generation, and they are not going down quietly

Steve Hewitt

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Investing in people and AI: Saudi Arabia’s vision for a new Middle East

Omar Harkous
Omar Harkous

Revolutions on the left and right target the decrepit centre

Houssam Itani
Houssam Itani

From Nixon and Mao to Trump and Xi

Ibrahim Hamidi
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Saad AlBazei brings nuance to Orientalism

Abdul Rahman Mazhar Halloush
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