Syria
A Country Misread
Syria’s revolution was first crushed, and then misread. Five recent books on the long uprising and its surprising aftermath show how elites, ideologues and foreign observers alike failed to see the people at its heart.
On the Wrong Side of the Fence
Over a year after the collapse of the Assad regime, Israeli forces have moved deep into and beyond the demilitarized buffer zone established by the 1974 disengagement agreement. Residents in Quneitra describe the quiet calculus of accommodation under the occupiers.
The Dangerous Quest of Syria’s Desert Truffle Hunters
In the desert around Deir ez-Zor, hunting for truffles is both a lifeline and a death trap. Communities devastated by Syria's civil war depend on the seasonal harvest of the culinary delicacy to survive, but the steppes remain laced with landmines.
In Search of a Story for Syria
With the recent reincorporation of northeastern Syria under central rule, the existential risk of national dissolution that Syrians feared seems to have passed. But stitching up the bonds between communities will be a longer and more difficult task than defeating separatist militias.
What the Islamic Republic Learned About Repression From Syria
Like the Assad regime that it assisted, the Islamic Republic has responded to mass protests by committing atrocities and claiming that protesters are foreign-backed “terrorists and spies.” The parallels indicate how far Iran is willing to go to ensure its survival.
Alawite Politics After Assad
After the fall of the Assad regime, Syria’s Alawites are navigating collective blame, political exclusion and existential fear. With no armed force, no institutions and no trusted leadership, their turn to religious protest reflects not sectarian ambition but a desperate search for survival.
Along an Increasingly Tense Border, Calls for Revenge Are Mounting
As the Syrian military deploys along the Syria-Lebanon frontier and tensions threaten to escalate, Syrian families making the crossing home carry memories of Hezbollah's role in their dispossession, and some are calling for scores to be settled.