Analysis

By Abdel Bari Atwan The surprises keep coming in Syria, one after the other. They reflect radical changes in the local, regional and international dynamics that have long governed the conflict ravaging the country. Following the Syrian Arab Army’s recovery of the town of as-Sukhna in the governorate …

Shehab Al-Makahleh and Maria Dubovikova The future of Syria is now being decided in Amman after the withdrawal of Syrian armed opposition troops from neighborhoods near the Jordanian-Syrian border, leaving the crossing point of Naseeb under the control of the Syria Arab Army (SAA). The fate of Syria, and importantly …

The UAE, not an old state and not even a state in every sense of the word, was founded in the 1970s with the British support for small sheikhdoms and immigration of people from other parts of the Arab Peninsula. The 47-year-old state lies on the southern coasts …

As expected, the intra-Syrian agreement on a cessation of hostilities between the Syrian army and the armed factions in what was seen as a principled success of the deal could lead to ending the six-year war in Syria. Moscow explained that it was in contact with the American …

Polina Tikhonova • As Turkey turns its back on the West and seeks rapprochement with Russia, Pakistan has formally asked Moscow to help stabilize Afghanistan. Turkey, Pakistan and Russia are pushing toward a peaceful world with Turkey backing Moscow’s diplomatic initiative to resolve the Syrian conflict. Meanwhile, Pakistan, China and Russia working …

The leading oil producer within OPEC, Saudi Arabia, seems to be suffering from low oil prices and instability within the country. RIA Novosti political observer Igor Gashkov analyzed how the country, in fact, might ruin itself from within, and what external factors might play a certain role. Saudi …

Iraq is embracing Iran, Russia and Syria while actively distancing itself from the US and its multiple bases in the country. Iraq’s Vice President Nouri al-Maliki is in Moscow where he openly declared that he seeks a military and political alliance with the Russian Federation. After talks with …

Friday’s announcement that the CIA’s covert program to arm and back Syrian rebels is being shut down amounts to an official declaration that the US administration has abandoned both the political and armed wings of the Syrian opposition. That effectively means handing Syria, or most of it, to …

The bridge, upon which a lot of history has passed, still stands. Renovated, but with some of the original paving slabs that once echoed the hobnailed boots of Japan’s Imperial army. It was on this bridge that an incident took place, 80 years ago, that some historians now …