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  • SDF

US forces patrol oil fields near Syria's north-east in the Qahtaniyah countryside of Hasakeh province on 3 September 2024. Delil Souleiman/AFP

The Palmyra attack and what it means for US-Syria cooperation

An Islamic State operative infiltrated Syria's security set-up and waited until he was with American soldiers. The assault requires an urgent reassessment of personnel and recruitment in Damascus.

Subhi Franjieh 16 December 2025
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
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A man walks past a mural depicting the Venezuelan national flag and reading "Long live the motherland!" in Caracas on 4 January 2026, a day after Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro was abducted by the US. Juan BARRETO / AFP
Politics

After Maduro: what next for Venezuela?

04 January 2026

The US could be secretly negotiating with elements in the government to take charge. The alternative is state and popular resistance, which sets the stage for more military action and insurgency.

Tarek Rashed
Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez speaks during a press conference in Caracas on 8 September 2025. Federico PARRA / AFP
Profiles

Delcy Rodríguez and Venezuela’s politics of survival

05 January 2026

Venezuela's vice president is known for having a diplomatic style that is confrontational in tone but cautious in substance, and pursuing a strategy that marries public defiance with quiet pragmatism

Stefanie Butendieck Hijerra
Richard N. Haass, Senior Counsellor, Centerview Partners, speaks onstage during the Reindustrialise Conference 2025 on 17 July 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. TASOS KATOPODIS / AFP
Politics

Richard Haass on America’s changing global role

31 December 2025

In an interview with Al Majalla, the senior US diplomat says that while the US may no longer play the role of world policeman, it is not isolationist either

Ibrahim Hamidi
Politics

2025 highlights and what to look out for in 2026

30 December 2025

Al Majalla reflects on this year and the first quarter of the 21st century, highlighting standout achievements, events and trends

Al Majalla - London
An aerial view shows pigeons flying over the Marjeh square in Syria's capital Damascus on 12 December 2024. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP
Culture & Social Affairs

The history of Damascus pulses through Marjeh Square

30 December 2025

If anywhere encapsulates the Syrian capital in recent decades, it is this enigmatic and iconic public space, which has seen more than its fair share of changes

Khalil Sweileh

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The destruction of Gaza’s markets is the destruction of memory

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Engineering a modern state: 25 years of Saudi development

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