Syria Comment

President Bashar al-Assad was the main catalyst for reform in Syria’s economy and to a lesser degree in its political institutions before the 2011 uprising. The Civil War has caused Assad to re...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/returning-to-hafiz-al-assads-syria-bashar-heads-back-to-the-future-in-2020/

By Nikolaos van Dam – @nikolaosvandam PREFACE TO THE ARABIC EDITION OF DESTROYING A NATION: THE CIVIL WAR IN SYRIA Tadmir Watan: al-Harb al-Ahliyah fi Suriya (Beirut, Dar Jana Tamer, 2018) As...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/nikolaos-van-dam-on-syria-assad-the-opposition-refugees-kurds-terrorism-the-future-of-the-middle-east/

Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University.  email: rrabil@fau.edu Twitter @robertgrabil Robin Wright, an astute journalist and analyst, wrote an article in the New Yorker on...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/is-the-us-decision-to-withdraw-from-syria-in-2019-a-mistake-like-its-decision-to-withdraw-from-lebanon-in-1983-by-prof-robert-rabil/

By – BOB BOWKER, who is a former Australian ambassador to Jordan, Egypt and Syria. He is now an Adjunct Professor at the ANU Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies. 19 Sep 2019 – Published firs...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/syria-is-it-time-for-the-west-to-talk-with-assad/

First published in Intelligence and National Security, May 28, 2019 70 years on from the end of the Arab-Israeli War, new documents shed light on the political intrigue that surrounded the motive...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/the-role-of-mi6-in-egypts-decision-to-go-to-war-against-israel-in-may-1948-by-meir-zamir/

By Matthew Barber Yesterday, NPR aired an important and heart-wrenching story from Jane Arraf about Yazidi mothers now freed from IS captivity who are forced to abandon their young jihadist-fathe...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/on-the-yazidi-mothers-of-children-fathered-by-jihadists/

The status of Syria’s Druze community has drifted in and out of the West’s attention during the long slog of the conflict. Talal el-Atrache’s recent article highlighted the precarious situa...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/a-look-back-at-kamal-jumblatt-and-the-progressive-socialist-party/

Nationalism, War, and The Future of The Middle EastBy S. Farahfor Syria Comment – January 25, 2019 “Nationalism is a great danger for Europe, for all the European countries. In the history of...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/nationalism-war-and-the-future-of-the-middle-east/

The plight of the Druze hostages:Why Washington should change its approach in Syria By Talal el-Atrache – @TalalElAtrache For Syria Comment – 8 Nov 2018 Throughout the Syrian war, the Southe...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/the-plight-of-the-druze-hostages-held-by-isis-the-war-on-the-islamic-state-by-talal-el-atrache/

Saudi Arabia, Shi’ism and the Illusion of Reform by Robert G. Rabil – @robertgrabil  October 30, 2019 The emergence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is inextricably associated with the Wahhab...

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/saudi-arabia-shiism-and-the-illusion-of-reform-by-robert-g-rabil/