Latest
The Fractured Mountain
Tensions are rising in Sweida between Druze and Bedouin communities. Clashes, attacks and mutual distrust have created a volatile situation, with villages living in fear of their neighbors.
The Politics of the Dead
Syria’s long and storied history has left it home to shrines for multiple religions and sects. Many are of great symbolic importance and have become flash points in the country’s conflicts since 2011. Once places of prayer and memory, they have been turned into tools for propaganda and recruitment.
The Middle East’s Forgotten Power Brokers
Fawaz Gerges joins Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on why the Middle East is so often misunderstood.
Turkey’s AI-Powered Protest Crackdown
Turkey is increasingly using facial recognition and AI to surveil and prosecute protesters, eroding the rule of law and strengthening the grip of authoritarianism.
Assad’s Prisons and the Need for Justice
After years of war, reconciliation with Syria’s past and between the country’s sects and factions cannot be achieved without some measure of justice being done. The first step is to establish the facts by documenting the prisons and mass graves, as well as the massacre sites and destroyed cities.
The Democratic Exclusion Dilemma
As extremist parties like Germany’s AfD and France’s National Rally edge closer to power across Europe, states are weighing bans and disqualifications. But excluding some political actors runs the risk of eroding democracy itself.
The Israeli Embassy Murders as a Rorschach Test
Reactions from some quarters in the wake of the Israeli Embassy murders in Washington and the attack in Boulder, Colorado, reveal an appetite for dehumanization, and a public discourse where murder can be minimized and values are losing ground to clashing group identities.