(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...

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...

(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...

(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...

There is no solving the conflict in Syria without Turkey, a Middle East political analyst told Anadolu Agency. "All the supporters of the fighters on the ground in Syria are somehow [geographically] distant from Syria. They can withdraw their jets anytime and stop financing the groups they...

 Alois Brunner, an Austrian SS officer found responsible for the World War II deportation of 125,500 European Jews to Nazi death camps, died in a Syrian jail cell in 2001, according to a report by two journalists published in France. Until now, Brunner, Adolf Eichmann's right-hand...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- Major differences can be observed in the planned peace talks in Kazakhstan's Astana between Turkey, Russia and Iran, the regional powers that most involved in Syria's proxy war. This discord clearly indicates that the understanding which was drafted in Moscow triple...

(Council on Foreign Relations)- Syria’s civil war has grown ever more complex in the nearly six years since protesters first challenged the government. President Bashar al-Assad aims to reassert control nationwide, while predominantly Sunni Arab opposition forces seek to wrest the state from...

(Middle East Eye)- Allowing aid into besieged areas of Syria has proven to be a successful diplomatic tool for negotiating, but civilians always pay the price for these truces On 13 December 2016, Bashar Jaafari, the current permanent representative of Syria to the United Nations, declared:...

The Obama administration imposed sanctions Thursday on a son of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, saying the younger bin Laden poses a risk to U.S. national security. The State Department said Hamza bin Laden has been added to its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list after he was...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- By reading the deal signed between the Syrian opposition factions, Turkey, and Russia we can conclude that this agreement is at its core a political deal and not an agreement to a ceasefire. The aim of the agreement is for both sides to form a delegation to participate in the...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The military expert Ismail Eyub considered that five core reasons pushed Russia, in cooperation with Turkey, to impose the ceasefire in Syria although Russian President Vladimir Putin described the ceasefire as “fragile.” In a statement to zaman al-Wasl, Eyub mentioned that...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Perhaps 2016 is the ultimate year of forced displacement. And how can it be considered otherwise when it was witness to the largest operation of forced displacement undertaken against the residents of Aleppo, the economic and industrial capital of Syria, following a...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The level of American-Turkish tension increased recently following American President Barack Obama supplying the Syrian Democratic Forces with a large shipment of weapons which will enter Syria from Iraq.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hastened to...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- We do not contradict the truth if we say that 2016 is ISIS year in Homs Province. ISIS surprise attacks on Homs eastern countryside confused the regime and its mercenaries and their strategic alley, Russia. ISIS caused huge loss for regime in souls and military gear estimated...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- He is known by the common people as al-Sheikh Yapraq without this name having to do with anything related to the truth of the shrine’s owner, his position and mission which raise him to the position of the real founder of al-Nusairiyah sect and who placed its rules being its...

(The Guardian)- While US and European politicians wring their hands and indulge in recriminations over the fall of Aleppo, Russia, Iran and Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime are celebrating a “historic” victory they believe has turned the tide in the six-year-old war. “Is there nothing...

By Ethar Abduhaq (Zaman Al Wasl)- Zaman al-Wasl followed with great interest the news and reports of Russia media regarding Moscow sending a group of what is known as the Chechen special forces. The forces add to the long list of Bashar Assad loyalists who fight with him against the Syrian...

By Hassan Hassan ( The National )- The extent to which communities in Syria and Iraq that have fallen under ISIL’s influence have changed since the group took control might take a generation to fully comprehend. In much of the expanse that ISIL has controlled or still holds, social change was...