Syria Archives - Arab Digest

Putin’s ascendancy in the war in Syria

7 April 2020William LawArab Digest EmailIsrael, Russia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, USA

As the Idlib truce continues to hold, Vladimir Putin reinforces Russia’s dominant role in Syria.

MENA post Covid-19

3 April 20203 April 2020William LawPodcastsAlgeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen

Covid-19 provides good cover for ISIS

1 April 20201 April 2020William LawArab Digest EmailIraq, IS, Syria, USA

While the world is focussed on the Covid-19 pandemic ISIS is quietly reassembling infrastructure, financial and otherwise, that will enable it to rebuild its global terror campaign.

Jordan’s Difficult Neighbourhood

30 March 2020William LawArab Digest EmailIran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE

Jordan’s relations with Iraq, Syria and Qatar have improved. Iran remains hostile. With other countries in the region, the direction of travel is less clear.

MENA wars in the shadow of Covid-19

23 March 2020William LawArab Digest EmailCovid-19, Egypt, Libya, Russia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, USA, Yemen

Will the global battle against coronavirus help to counter three major MENA wars? The evidence is mixed. Despite Covid-19 numbers rising dramatically in the Gulf states and elsewhere in the Middle East (with a particular concern that Egypt is both suppressing true numbers and showing itself dangerously unprepared) there is one ray of positive news. In Syria, one of the three major conflicts in the region, combatants have appeared much readier to accept a truce and to consider putting talks ahead of guns. In Libya, however, the warlord General …

Erdoğan and Putin cobble together a deal over Idlib

12 March 2020William LawArab Digest EmailRussia, Syria, Turkey, USA

Russia and Turkey have veered away from the risk of a direct confrontation in Syria but the situation in Idlib remains very much in flux. We are again grateful for the article below to David Barchard, a writer on Turkish history and politics. Six days after Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hammered out a temporary agreement for a cease-fire in the troubled northern Syrian province of Idlib, Turks are trying to work out whether it was a disappointment or a success. The disappointment would be that Turkey has …

Pawns in a Syrian war of attrition

5 March 20205 March 2020William LawArab Digest EmailRussia, Syria, Turkey

While the Russians, Turks, rebels and Assad wage a chess-like war civilians in Idlib pay the price.

As Assad nears victory in Idlib, Turkey takes casualties

18 February 202018 February 2020William LawArab Digest EmailRussia, Syria, Turkey, USA

Turkey faces difficult decisions in Syria as Assad’s forces close in on Idlib.

As Idlib falls Erdoğan is faced with a quandary

5 February 2020William LawArab Digest EmailIran, Russia, Syria, Turkey

Turkey’s President Erdoğan strives to balance relations with Russia as he risks being dragged further into the civil war in Syria.

High stakes over a small village in North Syria

20 November 2019William LawArab Digest EmailRussia, Syria, Turkey, USA

While a broader ceasefire generally holds, the battle for a small village in North Syria has important implications for the Syrian regime, the Kurds, Putin and Erdogan.