ع
Sections
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
Regions
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
More
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • Newsletter

LATEST ISSUE

Latest Issue
Magazine Archive
النسخة العربية
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Tag
  • 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
  •  Load More
  • Popular
  • Editor's Pick
US President Donald Trump welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House on 18 November 2025, in Washington, DC. Win McNamee / Getty
Politics

Saudi Arabia and the US: renewing a long partnership

28 November 2025

Al Majalla's December cover story highlights the signficance of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Washington in November

Al Majalla - London
Palestinian novelist Basem Khandakji
Culture & Social Affairs

Basem Khandakji on exile, imprisonment, and purpose

26 November 2025

The Palestinian novelist who won the Arabic Booker Prize in 2023 from behind Israeli prison walls speaks to Al Majalla about his extraordinary life and literary journey

El-Sayed Hussein
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi attend a welcoming ceremony for participants of the BRICS summit in Kazan on 22 October 2024. Maxim Shemetov / POOL / AFP
Politics

Egypt's multipolar balancing act is paying off

26 November 2025

With nuclear know-how from Russia, weapons from America, infrastructure from China, and money from the Gulf, Egypt is making the most out of a world with many powers.

Amr Emam
Lina Jaradat
Business & Economy

The Moroccan dirham emerges as an alternative currency in African markets

25 November 2025

As European banks retreat, debt balloons, and price volatility spooks central banks, Morocco's national currency is increasingly being used in continental trading.

Mohamed Sharki
Pope Leo XIV presides over the Holy Mass at the Volkswagen Arena, during his first apostolic journey, in Istanbul, Türkiye, on 29 November 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Politics

Why Pope Leo XIV chose Türkiye as his first foreign trip

29 November 2025

Anatolia's foundational role in early Christianity is why it is at heart of the Catholic Church's efforts to build closer ties with the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul

Omer Onhon

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter

Get the best of Al Majalla, straight to your inbox.

Your newsletter subscriptions are subject to Al Majalla privacy policy and terms and conditions.

OPINIONS

Netanyahu's idea of a reshaped Middle East

Fares Garabet
Fares Garabet

The Moroccan dirham emerges as an alternative currency in African markets

Mohamed Sharki
Mohamed Sharki

Saudi Arabia and the US: renewing a long partnership

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London

No US-Saudi defence treaty yet, but a good first step

Abdullah F. Alrebh
Abdullah F. Alrebh
MORE FROM OPINIONS
logo
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • About Al Majalla
  • Al Majalla Team
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact us
logo

© Al Majalla Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

0:00:00
0:00:00