The Israeli government has taken advantage of the unstable political and security conditions in Syria and in the town of Jibata al-Khashab to extend its control within Syrian territory.
A novelist, filmmaker and journalist makes his way to the Turkish-Syria border with the help of his Turkish left friends and contacts, to investigate the refugee camps and military camps where he says Syrian and non-Syrian fighters are undergoing training. The locals he meets seem to confirm their
Residents in cooperation with local battalions of the Free Syrian Army have managed to find a modus vivendi which allows them to attain a high degree of acceptance of political differences; a shining example.
Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi is a veteran Arab and international diplomat and one of the symbols of the traditional Algerian political structure. As the UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria he is on a near impossible mission.
The only way to turn the tide against the Assadist forces is by both equipping the FSA with heavier weaponry, and providing the FSA with greater support in the form of eventual intervention by aerial and some ground forces.
In the closing pages of his book, Starr describes a social system constructed on a lack of law and order, which is designed to instil fear. In this current crisis which is also an identity crisis, the author ponders the fate of the Syrian silent majority and the role they have to play.
The Syrian people have found themselves saturated to the point of despair with international pronouncements and strategic stances that descend upon them from every corner. The United States warns, Turkey threatens, France alerts, China invites, and Russia hints.
It has increasingly become a question of when - not if - the violence in Syria will lead to sectarian fighting in Lebanon. This reflects a commonly held belief that conflict in Lebanon is shaped from outside its borders; a belief that risks ignoring the ways in which Lebanon can be responsible for
On 1 September, Lakhdar Brahimi took over from Kofi Annan as UN-Arab League envoy to Syria. His task is not an enviable one, even for such a capable operator. But the new envoy has a few options for ending the Syrian civil war through diplomatic action.
Could the neglected strength of the mainstream Muslim community – a vestige of the Ottoman self-governing ethno-religious millet system – hold Syria together as it did nearly 100 years ago and prevent its dismemberment into a number of mini-states?
The former Information Minister has been apprehended trying to smuggle explosives into Lebanon. Away from the media focus on street clashes, subtler political trends threaten Lebanon's years of building a fragile peace.
