Opinions

Since December 8 of last year, the current Syrian government has consistently faced its major obligations through the personal initiatives of leaders and officials that have rarely enjoyed general consensus. These initiatives remain the subject of debate and controversy to...

Amid the ruins of war and destruction, Syrians now find themselves without any genuine political organisations capable of interpreting what has happened to their country, expressing their present demands, or shaping their future through structured political practice; what is commonly...

The visit of Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani to Beirut, at the head of an official delegation that included the ministers of justice and security and intelligence, was an important step in the course of Lebanese–Syrian relations. However, it did...

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing Syria after decades of authoritarianism and conflict lies not only in rebuilding its physical infrastructure, but in repairing its fractured national memory. Following the collapse of the Assad family’s rule, built upon the Ba’athist system,...

Mazen Murshid For more than fifty years, "elections" in Syria were nothing more than a staged performance, the outcome of which was known before it began. Ballot boxes looked the same, figures were absurd, and results were predetermined. We knew...

Like many schools of political thought, Marxism seems unable to provide a meaningful or accurate explanation of what is happening in Syria today. Yet it is perhaps the most incapable of all; ironically, because Syria should, in theory, fit well...

Fifty-five constitutions out of the fifty-seven officially registered member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation declare that Islam is either the religion of the state or of the head of state. These constitutions also state that Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh)...

The U.S. announcement of President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza was not merely an attempt to resolve a transient conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. From the very first moment, it appeared to be a comprehensive strategic...

Moderate Islam, or what is sometimes called “Neo-Islam”, is a contemporary intellectual movement that seeks to present an open and balanced vision of Islam; one that embraces the realities of modern life without abandoning the fundamental principles of the faith....

The rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power in 2002 was a decisive moment in understanding the balance of power within Turkey and the positioning of influential actors at home. Many researchers argue that the term “deep...