The Syrian government has been exerting a great deal of influence on the actions of the UN aid agencies in Syria. It has leveraged foreign aid workers need for its permission to enter Syria into access to supplies for its supporters while denying vital food and medical aid to civilians trapped in areas outside its control.
On June 9, the U.N. was finally able to get food to residents of Daraya, a small Damascus suburb, for the first time in almost four years.
The ancient city of Palmyra has been the stage for mass executions, the destruction of cultural heritage, battles between ISIS and Syrian government forces, and now in an absurd turn of events, a concert put on by Russia’s Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.
The refugee crisis in Europe stems from competing state and non-state actors in Syria and uneven responses by state and supra-state actors in Europe. But one of the most interesting—and useful—responses to the crisis have been at the individual level.
The following animation is from Next Media Animation’s News Direct service, whose re-enactments are based on news media reports.
Interesting news from Iraq… the Christian Science Monitor is reporting that violence has dropped precipitously as al-Qaeda affiliates quit the field to battle President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The effects of egress have been most pronounced in Nineveh Province – the Iraqi governate borders Syria and once served as served as home to as many as […]
On behalf of all Middle East writers at Foreign Policy Association, I am writing to extend our heart-felt condolences on the passing of Anthony Shadid, a true Middle East expert and a great source of inspiration for many of us here at FPA Blogs. As we mourn Anthony’s loss, we hope his legacy will remain […]
As I write these words, demonstrations are unfolding in the public squares of Syrian cities and towns, as they have done every Friday for the last eleven months, since the people of Dir’a first took to the streets to manifest their discontent at the indignities imposed upon them by the Asad regime. Grainy scenes of […]
With sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran gaining greater momentum and the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran looming large in the global economy, a key question remains whether or not the Islamic Republic will ink a deal to extricate itself from increasingly biting sanctions and ensure its survival, […]
Irrespective of one’s ideological affiliations, 2011 was an inconvenient year for the Middle East, to put it mildly. The speed at which Arab Spring brought about change has been baffling to most of us and inevitably prepared us for more drastic changes to come. Now let’s take a look at the most significant changes that […]
Summary of Turkish foreign policy in 2011 2011 was in many ways a milestone in modern Turkish history. First, the Arab Spring not only shook the Western influence in the region, it also ended the post-colonial period in the Middle East, marked by authoritarian-suppressive regimes, which in their way mirrored and reflected their perception of […]
An interview with the embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appeared in the Sunday edition of the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the President’s first with the foreign press since protests broke out across Syria some eight months ago. In his exchange with the English journalist Andrew Gilligan, Assad mounted a defense of his own rule […]
Wounded Patients in Syria’s Hospitals are Tortured, Along with Medical Staff Suspected of Treating Injured Protesters, Says New Amnesty International Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4cF7XhOnSQ&feature=player_embedded Human Rights Organization Documents Cases of Injured Protesters Being Beaten by Security Agents in Hospitals Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] (New York) — The Syrian government has turned hospitals into instruments of repression […]
While all eyes are on a likely Turkish land incursion against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Turkey faces the prospect of another security and ideological challenge in the Kurdish hinterland across its border, this time in Syria. Syria’s 1.8 million Kurds (10% of the population) have arguably been the most quiescent of […]
Emerging Leaders from Egypt and Tunisia Awarded Fellowships to Work in Congress and U.S. Media Outlets Washington D.C. — The World Affairs Institute has selected thirteen young Egyptians and Tunisians to participate in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Democracy Fellows Program. The Democracy Fellows will arrive on October 1 to begin their two-month […]