(Al-Jazeera)- The fourth round of UN-led Syria talks, dubbed Geneva 4, wrapped up last week with a tentative agreement between warring sides on an agenda for future negotiations - but a problematic work plan coupled with shifting international priorities could draw out the already lengthy...

(Middle East Eye)- The announcement earlier this week by the head of Iran's Martyrs Foundation that 2,100 combatants had been killed in Syria while "defending the shrine," has placed the extent of Iran’s human sacrifice into sharp relief. The term "defending the shrine" (Modafeaaneh Haram),...

(Al-Jazeera)- Six years into the carnage in Syria, atrocious crimes run rampant, with savage abuses committed against all groups in the devastated country, and the murderous regime, abetted by powerful allies, is still in power. The United Nations Security Council remains in a deadlock and...

By Abdullah Ghadawi (Zaman Al Wasl)- Members of the opposition's negotiating committee disagree among themselves about how to evaluate the results of the fourth round of the Geneva Peace Talks. The disparity in their positions appeared clearly as some consider the talks resembled those that...

(Al-Monitor)- On Feb. 21, Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, gave a speech at the Sixth International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada in Tehran, during which he called for the need to unify fronts between Palestinian factions...

THE MORNING PLUM: We keep hearing that President Trump will roll out the new version of his travel ban any day now. The White House delayed it earlier this week, because Trump advisers reportedly thought it could step on the good press he’d earned from his speech, thus inadvertently...

(Al-Monitor)- It’s become customary not to expect much from the Syria peace conferences. The warring parties argue around same mutual claims, often stick to maximalist positions and frequently seem more interested in trying to project a sympathetic image to outside observers than in discussing...

(Washington Post)- Sitting 7,000 miles from the fuss and frills of Sunday's Academy Awards, it was Raed Saleh, dressed in a simple T-shirt, who delivered one of the most powerful messages of the night. In a short acceptance speech — posted online after a documentary about his Syrian...

(Bloomberg)- A new military strategy to meet President Donald Trump's demand to "obliterate" the Islamic State group is likely to deepen U.S. military involvement in Syria, possibly with more ground troops, even as the current U.S. approach in Iraq appears to be working and will require fewer...

(Al-Monitor)- The major political slogan of the Bolshevik Party leading up to the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and the uprising itself, “All Power to the Soviets!” is now relevant to Syria. The long-lasting civil war in Syria killed centralized government stone dead and caused a...

(Al-Monitor)- All Palestinians have been focused on Hamas’ internal elections, which started Feb. 3 in Gaza and ended with Yahya Sanwar at the head of Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza. Sanwar succeeds Ismail Haniyeh, who is competing to replace Khaled Meshaal as the political bureau head at...

(Al-Monitor)- There are strong signals coming from Amman that Jordan is calibrating its strategy on Syria in light of recent political and military developments. At the heart of this shift lies Jordan’s readiness to chart a more independent course in dealing with the regime of Syrian President...

So far, the most meaningful role played by President Trump in the miserable conflict in Syria has been his relentless demonization of Syrian refugees. But the war still smolders, and the White House will, sooner or later, have to reckon with its complexity. It may also need to confront...

By Ali Eid (Zaman al-Wasl)- During a prisoner swap on the outskirts of Hama, Rasha Sharbaji from Daraya was released few days ago. Rasha spent around three years in Assad prisons. She was a mother of three children before she was detained and became mother of five. She had a twin in the...

(BBC)- The Syrian town of al-Bab was rather insignificant until it emerged as a strategic stake between the Syrian president and his allies (Russia and Iran), Turkey, the Kurdish PYD (Democratic Union Party) and the so-called Islamic State group. Situated just north-east of Aleppo, this...

(The Guardian)- The focus of the plight of the Syrian people has shifted away from the apex of horror that was the suffering caused by the siege of eastern Aleppo. Now we must not let the lives of millions of people in desperate need across Syria slip from the world’s conscience. In 2016 we...

(New York Times)- A northern Syrian city that is one of the Islamic State’s last enclaves in the country is under assault by military forces bearing down from all sides. The complication is that the advancing forces — the Syrian Army and pro-government militias backed by Russia, and...

By David Patrikarakos ( RFE/RL )- 2017, it seems, will be no less chaotic than its predecessor -- an aphorism made plain by a mere glance at the state of international politics extending from Paris to Washington. But nowhere is this trend clearer than in that most tumultuous of...

(The Globe And Mail)- It has been nearly two months since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces captured the besieged city of Aleppo, with support from Russia and Iran, wreaking carnage upon the civilian population and thrusting the Syrian crisis back onto the front pages of newspapers....

By John R Schindler ( Observer )- None can now deny that the refugee crisis that descended on Europe over the last year has changed the continent’s political landscape. The arrival of millions of migrants, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, with the encouragement of some European leaders,...