(The New York Times)- The world is watching Iran for signs of change, hoping it will evolve from a rogue revolutionary state into a respectable member of the international community. But Iran, rather than confronting the isolation it has created for itself, opts to obscure its dangerous...

(The National)- One of the common sentences repeatedly said by Syrians from the two main warring sides is that the solution to the conflict is attainable when the “big guys” decide to end it. Those big guys – at the UN Security Council – passed a unanimous decision on Friday calling...

(The Guardian)- The authors of this article are the current and the three former presidents of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces Terror has returned to the streets of Paris. So, too, has the realisation that international efforts to defeat terrorism...

By Emad Mostaque Daesh, the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, can be viewed as the most disruptive start-up ever devised. It uses modern technology to spread its message, radicalizing people in a matter of weeks rather than months or years. It also enables its recruits and acolytes to...

John Herbst, a former U.S. diplomat, wasn’t trying to flatter his German hosts when he took a dig at Washington late last month — he was just describing a new reality. “Berlin is the critical capital in the West for settling a just solution to the crisis in Ukraine,” he said while...

Ever since they expelled ISIL from Tal Abyad in mid-June, Syria’s Kurds have been at the centre of many rumours. In particular, there has been talk of upcoming battles against ISIL in northern Syria, including Kurdish-Russian cooperation. The idea of a Kurdish-led offensive to capture Raqqa...

The Syrian city of Aleppo is only 45 kilometers away from the Bab al-Hawa crossing along the Turkish border. Thousands of Iranian soldiers and fighters, preparing for the biggest military battle of the Syrian revolution since it began in 2011, are marching toward Aleppo, Syria’s most populated...

Nearly two weeks after the Russian intervention began in Syria, one could say it has not got off to a good start. Last week, the Syrian regime launched its first ground offensive against the rebels under Russian air support. The assault, in Hama’s northern countryside, failed spectacularly –...

 One little boy in a red T-shirt, lying face down, drowned, on a Turkish beach, is a tragedy. More than 200,000 dead in Syria, 4 million fleeing refugees and 7.6 million displaced from their homes are statistics. But they represent a collective failure of massive proportions. For four...

By Hassan Hassan ( The National )- Consider two heart-wrenching scenes that recently emerged from Syria. The first one is of children lining up behind 25 soldiers in the historic city of Palmyra, pointing pistols at the soldiers’ heads. The second is of a child killed in his Aleppo home by a...

(By Abdullah al-Ghadawi; Translation by Yusra Ahmed) A prominent figure in the Syrian National Coalition found that a hidden decisions to divide Syria has been taken by external countries, as it seems to be one of the best option to resolve the Syrian crisis amid the current situation and lack...

  By Labib Al Nahhas Labib Al Nahhas is head of foreign political relations for Ahrar al-Sham. (Washington Post)- As has become obvious, the Obama administration’s response to the Syrian conflict is an abject failure. No clear strategy has been determined; the administration’s “red...

The long-planned spring battle of Qalamoun - between Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces on one hand, and Syrian rebels on the other hand - started last weekend. Though the Assad regime and Hezbollah are striving for a victory to regain momentum, it will be a lengthy and...

(By Dr. Awad Al Sulaiman; Translation by Yusra Ahmed) “Complete destruction of insurgent-held areas in general and Aleppo in particular, supported by Suadi Arabia, Qatar, is what I demand in the name of Syrian people” Ahmad Hassoun, Syria's Grand Mufti Ahmed Badr al-Din al-Hassoun said...

(By Ali Eid; Translation by Yusra Ahmed) Hauran, southern region of Syria, has never been a host for extreme or deviated principles, as people there do not need militants to teach them Islamic and religious principles. However, what is going on these days between the Free...

Here is a new Iraqi paradox: whatever progress the Shi’ite Muslim-dominated Baghdad government makes against jihadi insurgents occupying large swathes of north-western Iraq, it is simultaneously undermining what is left of the Iraqi state, whose frailty and malfunctions created the...

  Absi Smeisem By Absi Smeisem The city of Idlib has fallen completely under the control of opposition fighters as the armed Syrian opposition factions yesterday tightened their grip on neighbourhoods in Idlib and managed to enter the city centre....

By Abdulllah Al Ghadawi; Translaiton by Yusra Ahmed (Zamnan Al Wasl)- Speculations are mounting in regard to the possible opening of a new page in the relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey after the King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz assumed power in the...

By Ora Szekely (Reuters)- Over the last year, Islamic State has presented the rest of the world with a steady stream of atrocities: An attempted genocide against the Yazidi people in Iraq, massacres and bombings of Shi’ite civilians in Syria, and gruesome executions of...

By Abdullah Al Ghadawi; Translation by Yusra Ahmed (Zaman Al Wasl)- The mutual relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey have cautiously started recovering, especially after the death of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz when the Turkish President Recep...