Syria
Demise of a Syrian TV Series
While Arabs in the West occupy themselves with Hollywood’s depictions of Arab history and culture, one of the Arab world’s most popular series has arguably done as bad a job — if not worse — in capturing the true spirit of a bygone era in Syria.
The Stabilocracy Fantasy
For decades, the West has pioneered “stabilocracy” in the Balkans, a pernicious brand of diplomacy that prefers agreement to reform. That diplomacy was exported to their relations with Kremlin — with the extreme, bloody conclusion being the war in Ukraine.
Exclusive: How Russia Evades Sanctions via Syrian Loan Schemes
The Kremlin, the source added, has engaged in needless bureaucratic foot-dragging, last-minute renegotiation of terms and price-gouging, and has generally treated Damascus as an imperial power might a lesser colony.
Putin’s Military Adventures, From Syria to Ukraine — with Anand Gopal
Award-winning journalist Anand Gopal joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai to talk about how the invasion of Ukraine compares with Vladimir Putin’s war in Syria and ask why Syrians never received the same support in the face of Russian atrocities.
U.S. Syria Policy Could Be Linchpin to Global Stability
Given past U.S. failures to take on the Assad regime, Moscow’s and Beijing’s plans may well hinge on how Biden next acts in the Levant.
A Syrian Army Deserter Was Savagely Killed by Putin’s Wagner. Now His Family Seek Justice in Russia
Mhesn Alabdullah’s cousin Hamadi Bouta, a Syrian army deserter, was savagely beaten to death and mutilated on camera by soldiers of the notorious Wagner Group in eastern Syria in 2017. Now his family wants justice.
Why I Stopped Writing About Syria
Of course, I was not going to get a staff job, I was not going to be called “correspondent,” and I was not going to be relocated anywhere. Quite the contrary, when I had to flee Syria with only a few hundred dollars in my pocket, I was immediately let go from a job I risked my life daily by doing in secret. A few years later, I lost another job because I had to move to another country once again for security reasons.