For analysts familiar with the politics of Syria, the country’s descent into chaos amounts to an all-too-predictable pattern. It also parallels what  Rami Makhlouf , a major regime figure and first cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, bluntly announced in an interview with...

Endgame for the Syrian National Coalition   The international conference called for by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to end the conflict in Syria may not actually take place. And if it does, it is unlikely to succeed. At...

  Sheikh Ahmed al-Aseer, well-known Lebanese cleric, tweeted, earlier, today,'' To those who are suffering for our brothers in Qusair, We understand the pain we are doing our best to help them achieving their victory, despite all the difficulties, we hope that everyone prays...

The golden cupola of the Sayyida Zainab mosque glints, magnificent, against the clear sky. In the courtyard, children play amid shoes shed by their parents before they entered to pray. Only the crack of gunfire, the hissing of bullets overhead and mortar fire close by disturbs the tranquil...