Syria

Exeter, UK (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The Arab revolutionary wave that began in 2011 presents two of its most significant, yet fundamentally divergent, case studies: Egypt and Syria. While both nations experienced the overthrow of long-standing authoritarian regimes, the mechanisms, actors, and ultimate outcomes of their revolutions differed significantly. A comparative analysis reveals […]

Featured

Syrian FM: Israel’s deadly Incursion against Islamic Group a ‘War Crime’ after 13 killed

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli military forces made a raid into Syria on Friday that from what I can gather turned into a disaster for them. Israeli troops mounted an assault on the hamlet of Beit Jinn southeast of Damascus, where they maintained that three members of the Lebanon-based Islamic Group (al-Jama`ah al-Islamiyyah) constituted […]

Featured

Practicing Social Ecology: From Bookchin to Kurdish Rojava and Beyond

Peter G. Prontzos

Review of Eleanor Finley Practicing Social Ecology: From Bookchin to Rojava and Beyond, Pluto Press, 2025, by Peter G. Prontzos. Vancouver (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Murray Bookchin was one of the most significant thinkers – and activists – in the 20th century, beginning with his pioneering ecological analysis, Our Synthetic Environment, which was […]

al-Qaeda

Former al-Qaeda leader invited to White House, Peaceful Muslim Mayor gets Cold Shoulder

The Conversation

By Amin Saikal, Australian National University; The University of Western Australia; Victoria University (The Conversation) – Two prominent young Muslim figures have had an exceptional rise to power this year: Ahmed al-Sharaa in Syria and Zohran Mamdani in New York City. While sharing a common religion, their political stories couldn’t be more different. As has […]

Featured

Syrian President Meets Trump, Pledges to fight ISIL and seek Security Pact with Israel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Trump met behind closed doors on Monday with President Ahmad al-Sharaa of Syria for about an hour. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also met with his opposite number, Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani. One of the topics of discussion, according to the Syrian press, was ways […]

Democracy

Syria’s new Leader promised Democracy, but excluded Women from Parliamentary Elections

The Conversation

By Kinda Alsamara, The University of Queensland; Eleanor Gordon, Monash University, and Elliot Dolan-Evans, Monash University (The Conversation) – Women’s political participation is often treated as a measure of a country’s commitment to equality and democracy. Earlier this year, Syria’s new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, described his country as moving in a “democratic direction” after […]

Donald Trump

Terror from the Skies in the Middle East: Israel and the Ghost of Bomber Harris

Juan Cole

Here is my essay for this week’s Tomdispatch.com . Check out the great Tom Engelhardt’s introduction at that site, where he reminds us of the eerie similarity of today’s Washington strategy toward the Middle East, of intensive bombardment, to that of Nixon-Kissinger in Southeast Asia. For people of my generation, it raises the sad question […]

Democracy

Syria’s Parliamentary Election Results look Alarmingly like Iraq 2005, which produced a Civil War

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Syria’s parliamentary elections on October 5 raised alarm flags for me on several grounds. First, they were not conducted on the basis of a direct vote. Sixty “constituencies” were established to elect 121 members of the People’s Assembly of Syria (only 119 were actually elected). Another 70 members will be […]

Israel

Syria: Israel Forcibly Displaces Villagers in Occupied South

Human Rights Watch

Forced Displacement is a War Crime; Homes Razed, Syrians Detained and Unlawfully Transferred to Israel Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Syria since December 2024 have carried out a range of abuses against residents, including forced displacement, which is a war crime. Other abuses include homes seizures and demolitions, denial of access to livelihoods and […]