Time to talk
As the horrific carnage in Syria continues, a depressingly familiar chorus is rising from Washington. The new consensus is the same as it was in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan: Bombing…
Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security
Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime…
Syrian letter delivers response to US conditions for sanctions relief
Syria has responded in writing to a list of US conditions for possible partial sanctions relief, saying it had acted on most of them but others required “mutual understandings” with…
Syria plans to print currency in UAE and Germany, ending Russian role
Syria plans to print a newly-designed currency in the UAE and Germany instead of Russia, three sources said, reflecting rapidly improving ties with Gulf Arab and Western states as a…
Israel lobbies US to keep Syria weak and decentralised
Israel is lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralised, including by letting Russia keep its military bases there to counter Turkey’s growing influence in the country, four…
Will US attack Iran?
IRAN is at its weakest moment externally since the Iran-Iraq war. Israel’s aggression in Lebanon and Gaza has critically wounded Iran’s allies Hezbollah and Hamas, while Yemen’s Houthis are under…
Mueller probe over, but little chance for US-Russia reconciliation
A long-awaited US probe on Russian election meddling has divided Washington but on one point virtually all US policymakers are clear - there will be no reconciliation with Moscow. The…
Contours of the new Middle East
HOW and why the Assad regime collapsed like a house of cards in a mere 11 days, after battling foreign-sponsored rebel groups, including IS and Al Qaeda, for some 13…
Straws in the Syrian whirlwind
THE pendulum of zealotry almost always ushers in intellectual subterfuge in its wake. The lightning, if not spontaneous, takeover of Damascus by mediaeval militias is being predictably applauded by Western journalists as…
Pacem in terris?
JUST before sitting down yesterday to write this column, I was listening to a History Extra podcast about the ‘history behind the headlines’ of 2024. It was a conversation between…
