Why is Damascus pursuing a rapprochement with Moscow despite its unpopularity, and how might it strike a balance between Syrian public opinion and strategic interests?
Syrian opposition factions advanced rapidly and entered districts of Aleppo city on Friday in a shock offensive against regime forces, who unexpectedly retreated and lost strategic positions, including large parts of the M5 highway.
For US policy on Syria, this year’s election is largely a choice between a continued status quo under Vice President Kamala Harris and a return to the unpredictable foreign policy of former President Donald Trump.
Syrians returning from Lebanon to opposition-held northwestern Syria find themselves in danger once more, as the area faces a military escalation by Russia and the Assad regime, alongside Syrian National Army (SNA) infighting.
The Syrian regime, while indebted to Hezbollah and Tehran, has distanced itself from the escalating regional conflict between the “axis of resistance” and Israel. Where does Damascus stand?
Bombardment by Syrian regime forces and affiliated militias has killed and injured dozens of people in SDF-controlled villages and towns in Deir e-Zor since Iran-backed Arab tribal forces launched an attack on the eastern countryside six days ago.
Since late 2023, the Syrian regime has been waging a drone war in northwestern Syria. As civilians in areas near frontlines are targeted, the threat of attacks keeps farmers from their land, destroying livelihoods and threatening the area’s food security.
Residents of SDF-controlled northeastern Syria say the US military presence there brings a sense of relative stability, one that any withdrawal—as Washington was recently reported to be considering—would shatter.
Residents of Syria’s opposition-held northwest demonstrate in support of Palestinians facing displacement and bombardment in Gaza—an experience many of them share.
Bombings across northern Syria this month—by the Syrian regime and Russia against the HTS-controlled northwest, and by Turkey in the SDF-controlled northeast—have something in common: killing civilians and damaging infrastructure.
