• Viewpoint
    SyriaUS Foreign Policy

    The Populist and the Pragmatist: Why Trump Sees a Kindred Spirit in Syria’s al-Sharaa

    Nov 11, 2025Daniel Neep

    At first glance, US President Donald J. Trump and Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa inhabit very different political universes. Trump, the populist pre…

  • Viewpoint
    MoroccoProtests and Activism

    Morocco’s Gen Z Protests: A New Form of Opposition?

    Oct 29, 2025Isabel Ruck

    Certain signs are undeniable. When a generation born in the digital age stops swapping memes and instead mobilizes en masse to declare “enough is enough,” it w…

  • Viewpoint
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    The “New Syria” and Reconstruction under Regional Influences

    Oct 2, 2025Isabel Ruck

    On September 24, 2025, interim Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa addressed the 80th United Nations General Assembly—the first time a Syrian president has done s…

  • Viewpoint
    SyriaPublic Opinion

    Reading the Syrian Public Opinion Survey 2025: Indicators of Optimism

    Sep 19, 2025Daniel Neep

    The Arab Opinion Index: Syrian Public Opinion Survey 2025 provides an unusually granular view of political attitudes in a country long considered impervious to…

  • Viewpoint
    LebanonSecurity and Defense

    Palestinian Disarmament in Lebanon: Small Steps with Regional Implications

    Sep 4, 2025Rami G. Khouri

    On August 21, 2025, Palestinian factions in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp near Beirut transferred light weapons in pickup trucks to the Lebanese Armed Forc…

  • Viewpoint
    US Foreign Policy

    Trump Administration Guts State’s Human Rights Reports

    Aug 29, 2025Ingie Gohar

    On August 12, 2025, the US Department of State released the 2024 human rights reports, covering 198 countries and territories. State’s annual reports were prev…

  • Viewpoint
    Palestine/IsraelThe War on Gaza

    Netanyahu’s Extreme Vision for Gaza

    Aug 22, 2025Khalil E. Jahshan

    In a highly publicized foreign press conference in Jerusalem on August 10, 2025, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed with uncharacteristic clarity his p…

  • Viewpoint
    SyriaIdentity Politics and Sectarianization

    The Clashes in al-Suwayda: New Possibilities and Old Ghosts in Syria

    Jul 31, 2025Rami G. Khouri

    The July 2025 violence in southern Syria’s al-Suwayda region that killed 600 people and displaced thousands more traces its origins back to April 2025, when Su…

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