Bashar al-Assad

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Russian withdrawal from the small town of Bucha near the capital of Kyiv left behind a raft of murdered civilians in the streets and bombed buildings the way an ebbing tide leaves behind flotsam and driftwood after a violent tsunami. The Russian government is attempting to escape blame for […]

Bashar al-Assad

What does Russia’s history of urban warfare in Aleppo and Grozny mean for Ukraine?

Global Voices

By Roman Shemakov | – ( Globalvoices.org ) – As the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags on, the conflict has increasingly focused on urban hubs. The cities of Mariupol near the Black Sea and Kharkiv near the Belarusian and Russian border have been fully surrounded by Russian forces, facing hourly bombing campaigns for weeks. The […]

Bashar al-Assad

Was Putin’s Himalayan Error on Ukraine a Result of his Syrian Success?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Alexander Titov at Queen’s University, Belfast, has argued that the commonly met with meme that Vladimir Putin has gone off his rocker is incorrect. Titov locates Putin’s grand strategy in the tradition of great power politics. I agree that it doesn’t add anything significant to our analysis to resort to […]

Authoritarianism

Syrians Watch Ukraine with Fear and Hope: International Protections Provided to Ukrainians Can Still Be Extended to Syrians

Human Rights Watch

By Maya Ghazi | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – Over the past couple of years Syria has settled into a grim status quo: a crumbling economy, a fragmented nation, and the continued peril refugees face from forced returns home. Yet in the lead-up to the 11th anniversary of the Syrian revolution, there have […]

Bashar al-Assad

This is Where We came in: Will Russia’s Syrian Mercenaries in Ukraine form a new Al-Qaeda?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Thursday, according to Alarabiya (quoting Tass) Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would permit foreign fighters from the Middle East to aid the Russian war effort in Ukraine. At the same time, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that some 16,000 fighters in the Middle East had expressed […]

Bashar al-Assad

America’s Allies Accept the Pain of Cutting off Russia, Except for Israel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reported on Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s three-hour meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. The meeting was advertised as a mediation attempt, but Israel is not in a position to mediate with Putin. Mediators to a conflict usually bring wealth or power to the […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syrian survivors of Torture rejoice over German Court indicting Regime Officer of Crimes Against Humanity

Global Voices

By Okba Mohammed | – ( Globalvoices.org) – Survivors of torture in Syrian prisons celebrated a verdict made at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 13 by Koblenz Court in Germany, convicting former officer in the Syrian regime Anwar Raslan of crimes against humanity. Many also demanded the end of torture for their loved ones still […]

Afghanistan

Biden got 117,000 Afghans Out: Contrast that Time Trump Abruptly Withdrew Troops from Syria and refused to Help Kurdish Allies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Richard N. Ojeda, an Army vet and former West Virginia state representative tweeted out an observation that I would like to reinforce: I don’t remember Donald Trump flying one Kurd to safety. He let Turkey slaughter them. They were our allies that served side by side with our troops. Where […]

Bashar al-Assad

Does Renewed fighting in Syria’s Deraa, Birthplace of the Revolution, Show Russia’s Weakness?

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – Russia is making an effort to prevent wide-scale hostilities in Syria’s southern province of Deraa. The Kremlin reportedly aims to increase its influence in the war-torn country, but recent clashes in Deraa al-Balad – a southern district of Deraa city – between the Moscow-backed Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and […]