Syria Archives - Arab Digest

On the road to nowhere: a pickup truck crowded with Bidoon families travels toward Jahra and Salmi—the historic epicentre of Kuwait’s long-standing stateless community, whose disenfranchisement is now mirrored by tens of thousands of newly denaturalised citizens.

Stateless by decree: Kuwait’s mass denaturalisation campaign

Summary: Kuwait’s amir has ruthlessly pursued a policy of mass citizenship stripping with tens of thousands denaturalised and with a dissolved parliament and a climate of fear leaving no recourse for those affected.

October 16, 2026

The words "The Qatari Embassy in Israel" projected onto Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv—a visual protest against Netanyahu's long-standing, state-sanctioned backchannel dealings with Doha.

Qatargate and Washington

Summary: much has been made of Qatar’s relationship with both Hamas and the Netanyahu government as a sinister plot; a Washington insider says the reality is far more mundane.

October 12, 2026

Iran-backed militias, funded by the Iraqi state, celebrate National Day in the streets of Baghdad, Saturday 3rd October.

Iraq’s militia deadline is losing its leverage

Summary: Baghdad has backed down from its efforts to disarm Popular Mobilisation Forces pushing the deadline back to 2027 thus sending a clear signal that for now at least it has neither the political clout or the hard power to bring the militias under its control.

October 6, 2026

A photo provided by a Middle Eastern intelligence agency shows vessels for purported chlorine-based weapons with a building with architectural features resembling a barjeel in the background.

Sudan’s Chlorine Controversy

Summary: allegations regarding the Sudanese Armed Forces’ deployment of weaponised chlorine gas have led to US sanctions. The Sudanese government firmly denies the claims, alleging it is a UAE-backed disinformation operation designed to distract from atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces.

October 5, 2026

Riyadh's "Suez moment" arrives as Washington scales back its commitments, leaving the Gulf states to face regional rivals without an American shield.

Saudi Arabia’s ‘Suez Moment’

Summary: recent events have forced a recognition that the US hegemony in the Middle East is over. How the inevitable vacuum will be filled remains far from clear. But it is hard to be optimistic in the short to medium-term even though there is surely an opportunity for “a new beginning.”

October 1, 2026

American servicemen on parade in Iraq. The departure of coalition forces marks a dramatic recalculation for Erbil, forcing the KRG to balance ties between Baghdad and Washington without its historic military shield.

Iraqi Kurds Will Face Narrowing Options After US Troops Leave

Summary: as regional insecurity grows the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq has placed Iraqi Kurdistan in a difficult and challenging position.

September 29, 2026

Ahmad Hassoun, Assad's former Grand Mufti (2005–2021), AKA the "barrel bomb Mufti", on his way to court in Damascus.

Syria: the old bargain between religion and state lives on

Summary: former Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun’s life sentence has opened the book on religious co-option. Will anyone turn the page?

September 24, 2026

ehran’s maritime legal strategy takes a rather direct form on the shoreline, where signboards outline precisely who—and what—is barred from the coastal zone.

Navigating the Strait of Hormuz toll, US sanctions and maritime law

Summary: the Strait of Hormuz is still not open for traffic, with the US targeting Iranian oil tankers and imposing more sanctions as the standoff continues, while differing views on maritime rights are further muddying the waters.

September 22, 2026

The people of Bahrain - majority Shia, ruled by a Sunni dictatorship propped up by Washington - are in the streets marching for Khamenei

Religious restrictions in Bahrain reveal sectarian tensions, regional power struggles

Summary: with the Iran war continuing, Bahrain’s majority Shi’a population finds itself under siege, facing further repression and religious restrictions from a regime that sees it as a security threat.

September 8, 2026

A new chapter for Syria’s Kurds

Summary: Syria’s Kurds have moved into a new relationship with Damascus. However integration has proved a difficult challenge with the interim government of Ahmed al-Sharaa needing to do more work to convince Kurds they will have a meaningful place in the new Syria he is attempting to build.

September 3, 2026

Syrian Security forces thwart an attempt to smuggle a shipment of "advanced weapons" and missiles across the Iraqi border, intended for Hezbollah, 16 July 2026

Iraq and Syria: a cautious courtship

Summary: Iraq and Syria have long distrusted one another but economic necessities and the Iran war are leading to a warming in relations.

August 21, 2026

Representatives meet in Damascus to draft Syria’s new anti-money laundering strategy, aiming for international standards while banks manually screen transactions without modern software.

MENA and the flaws in FATF

Summary: five MENA countries are on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey-list “for increased monitoring for strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and counter-proliferation financing frameworks”. Getting off the list may be down more to politics than process.

August 20, 2026

Syria

Access provided by the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford