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  • 10 Oct 2025
    • Australia
    • Terrorism
    • Asylum seekers and refugees
    • International law
    • Syria

    Australia’s quiet returnees from Syria are in fact a loud warning

    Khalid Koser , Lilla Schumicky-Logan
    Leaving detainees stranded in Syria doesn’t reduce risk – it can export the very insecurity governments hope to prevent.
  • 23 Jun 2025
    • Asean
    • Syria

    The role for ASEAN in Syria’s restoration

    Kurniawan Arif Maspul
    The quiet diplomacy model practised by the Southeast Asian grouping complements efforts by other powers and offers much to gain.
  • 11 Mar 2025
    • Syria

    Syria’s de facto leader faces home truths

    Philip Eliason
    Any national reconciliation process cannot advance while non-Sunni Muslim religious sects face terror and extortion.
  • 11 Feb 2025
    • Syria

    The two faces of Syria’s interim government

    David Livingstone
    The regional responses will matter far more than Western influence.
  • 7 Jan 2025
    • Syria

    Syrian boss Ahmed al-Sharaa: A leopard in a fix

    Philip Eliason , David Livingstone
    The truth of an Islamist takeover cannot be lost amid a charm offensive and wishful thinking.
  • 10 Dec 2024
    • Syria
    • Türkiye

    Bashar al-Assad is gone, but is the Syrian civil war over?

    William Gourlay
    Regional geopolitical dynamics remain in flux.
  • 9 Dec 2024
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Syria

    Beyond Assad: Jihadist strongholds and the threat to the West

    James Paterson
    The rebel offensive needed a safe base from which to operate – and bitter experience tells of the wider dangers involved.
  • 3 Dec 2024
    • Russia
    • Syria

    Is Russia the loser in the fall of Syria’s Aleppo?

    Nikola Mikovic
    Moscow cannot meaningfully aid its ally, and that’s not gone unnoticed.
  • 1 Aug 2024
    • Australia
    • Islamic State
    • International law
    • War Crimes
    • Iraq
    • Syria

    The Yazidi still wait for justice

    Susan Hutchinson
    Australia also has obligations when its citizens are accused of the worst of all crimes.
  • 26 Mar 2024
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Middle East
    • Syria

    Moscow attacks: Why Putin was quick to blame Ukraine

    Munira Mustaffa
    The Kremlin is covering its own mistakes in the bid to deflect attention.
  • 12 Dec 2023
    • Syria

    The redemption of Bashar al-Assad?

    William Gourlay
    Syria has been readmitted to the Arab League but faces ongoing challenges and a population bedevilled by conflict.
  • 20 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Israel
    • Lebanon
    • Qatar
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Syria
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen

    The war in Gaza has not destroyed normalisation … for now

    Lydia Khalil
    Despite deepening hostilities, common strategic interests still bind Israel and most of the Arab states.
  • 4 Oct 2023
    • Syria

    The uprising in al-Suwayda Syria presents the world a moral test – again

    Rima Flihan
    People haven’t forgotten their rights and continue to struggle against the Assad regime.
  • 20 Jun 2023
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United Kingdom
    • Syria

    Chemical weapons: Impunity is killing deterrence

    Joel Keep
    Poisoning continues as a favoured form of invisible warfare meted out by dictators and autocrats, with horrific results.
  • 10 Feb 2023
    • Syria
    • Türkiye

    The grim toll of Türkiye’s earthquake will also shift regional politics

    William Gourlay
    The international outpouring of support has gone beyond friends but to unexpected quarters, too.
  • 28 Jun 2022
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Syria
    • Türkiye

    How Turkey’s position on Ukraine is further destabilising Syria

    Samy Akil , Alexander Langlois
    Erdoğan wants sanctions relief and is forcing NATO leaders into making an uncomfortable choice.
  • 9 May 2022
    • Syria
    • Russia
    • Türkiye
    • Ukraine

    Turkey’s leverage over Russia – in Syria and beyond

    Nikola Mikovic
    Ankara and Moscow are in an unusual power play where the Kremlin turns a blind eye to actions that aid its adversaries.
  • 13 Sep 2021
    • United States
    • Syria
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Energy
    • Lebanon

    Iran’s energy diplomacy

    Rodger Shanahan
    Tehran knows its hand when it comes to playing the energy card across the region.
  • 12 Aug 2021
    • Syria
    • Human rights
    • International law

    Syria: The consequences of intellectual failure and moral neglect

    Bob Bowker
    No Western government should abide policy goals that in practice are pursued via collective punishment of Syrian people.
  • 26 Jul 2021
    • Syria
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Australia
    • Migration

    Bringing home Australian children trapped in Syrian camps

    Rodger Shanahan
    Faced with thorny legal and security obstacles for the adults, it may be better to return children alone.
  • 2 Feb 2021
    • United States
    • Syria

    Syrian stasis

    Rodger Shanahan
    Washington isn’t likely to pay much attention to the Syria conflict – and nothing much will change.
  • 7 Aug 2020
    • Asylum seekers and refugees
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Syria
    • Migration
    • Human rights

    The Beirut explosion and the plight of Syrian refugees

    Erin Watson-Lynn
    The blast that killed over 100 and injured thousands is also a reminder of the fragile existence of millions.
  • 6 Aug 2020
    • Middle East
    • United States
    • Syria

    It’s always about the oil in the Middle East

    Rodger Shanahan
    Confused by regional dynamics? Look to the constants.
  • 17 Jul 2020
    • Syria
    • United Nations
    • China
    • Russia

    The obstacles to Syrian aid

    Rebecca Barber
    Russia and China have used the Security Council to squelch cross-border humanitarian assistance. It’s time for options.
  • 9 Jul 2020
    • Middle East
    • Syria
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Yemen
    • Türkiye
    • Israel

    Cashing in the chips at the Trump casino

    Rodger Shanahan
    The prospect of a Biden administration has pro-US leaders in the Middle East seeking to keep their political “winnings”.
  • 22 Jun 2020
    • Syria

    Syria: Thumbs down

    Rodger Shanahan
    New sanctions under the so-called Caesar Act might target the regime in Damascus, but the burden will be felt by locals.
  • 11 Jun 2020
    • Syria
    • War Crimes
    • Germany

    With Syrian prosecutions, a rare case of universal jurisdiction

    Craig Hershowitz
    A seldom-used legal concept demonstrates the reach of justice even in the most hopeless circumstances.
  • 1 Jun 2020
    • United States
    • Syria
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Iraq

    Need To Know: Brett McGurk on America’s strategy to defeat ISIS

    Rodger Shanahan
    In a new interview series, the former US special envoy discusses conflict in Syria and maximalist foreign policy goals.
  • 5 Mar 2020
    • Syria
    • European Union
    • Türkiye
    • Coronavirus

    Europe under threat

    Daniel Woker
    Yes, by coronavirus, but also by fighting in Syria and Libya. Can the EU react adequately? What will Brexit Britain do?
  • 3 Mar 2020
    • Syria
    • United Nations

    Syria: What the UN can do, and must do

    Rebecca Barber
    With the Security Council once more hostage to the veto, the General Assembly should test the world’s resolve.
  • 3 Mar 2020
    • Syria
    • Türkiye

    Syria: The battlefield rules

    Rodger Shanahan
    Every action prompts a reaction, as a success for Assad forces an angry response from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey.
  • 11 Feb 2020
    • Middle East
    • Syria
    • Iraq

    Middle East dispatch: A paper closes, a rift opens, Syria slips

    Lauren Williams
    New hostilities between Turkey and Syria mark another blow to the Astana process and further tragedy for civilians.
  • 5 Nov 2019
    • Syria
    • Rules Based Audio

    October in Syria: Podcast out now

    Kelsey Munro
    Rodger Shanahan unpacks the US withdrawal from Syria and the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Are they linked?
  • 28 Oct 2019
    • Global Issues
    • Syria
    • Kurdistan
    • Türkiye

    The worrying precedent of Turkey’s “safe zone”

    Rebecca Barber
    Under international law, one country cannot invade another to seize territory – yet that appears to have been endorsed.
  • 24 Oct 2019
    • Syria
    • Terrorism
    • Australia
    • Iraq

    Trump’s troop withdrawal and what’s next for Islamic State

    Daniel Flitton , Lydia Khalil
    Having pre-emptively declared the militant group “100% defeated”, the pull back from Syria raises different threats.
  • 14 Oct 2019
    • Syria
    • Türkiye

    Turkey’s “safe zone” may prove costly

    Xiaoli Guo
    In Ankara’s view, the intervention in Syria has been a diplomatic and military success, but an economic risk looms.
  • 9 Oct 2019
    • United States
    • Syria
    • Australia

    The sharp shift on Syria

    Brigid O’Farrell
    To pull out from northern Syria only invites more trouble – already ISIS is seeking advantage.
  • 24 Sep 2019
    • Syria
    • United Nations
    • Russia

    Syria: the disgraceful stain left by the UN Security Council veto

    Rebecca Barber
    The General Assembly has a chance to act in the interests of peace in the face of Russian and Chinese intransigence.
  • 19 Sep 2019
    • Syria
    • Australia

    Syria: Is it time for the West to talk with Assad?

    Bob Bowker
    Engaging Assad, while repugnant, is better than words of sound and fury delivered that makes little difference.
  • 21 Mar 2019
    • Syria
    • Terrorism
    • Australia

    Who bears responsibility for the children of ISIS?

    Rodger Shanahan , Jennifer Percival
    There are 70 Australian minors affiliated with ISIS in Syria. Yet there is no policy or direction on repatriation.
  • 19 Feb 2019
    • Syria
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • United Kingdom

    Repatriating female foreign fighters: political not personal

    Lydia Khalil
    <p>Many foreign women who join ISIS were not duped or coerced. It is time to recognise Shamima Begum’s agency.</p>
  • 18 Jan 2019
    • Syria

    Syria: emerging consequences of the US withdrawal

    Rodger Shanahan
    Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria has actors scrambling to make sense of the ramifications.
  • 20 Dec 2018
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • Syria

    What happens next? Trump’s sudden Syria exit

    Rodger Shanahan
    Exactly what “moving on” means will become apparent in the months ahead but such a rapid exit has obvious ramifications.
  • 4 Oct 2018
    • Syria

    The danger of mission creep in Syria

    Rodger Shanahan
    American troops went to support locals to defeat ISIS, but staying until Iranian forces withdraw is a different goal.
  • 20 Sep 2018
    • Syria
    • Russia

    The crowded skies of Syria

    Rodger Shanahan
    Another plane destroyed shows despite a three-year intervention, Russian commanders don’t always know what they should. 
  • 10 Sep 2018
    • Syria

    Idlib – the (nearly) final frontier

    Rodger Shanahan
    Turkey seems to be in the weakest position in negotiations with Russia and Iran as the pressure on Idlib builds.
  • 22 Aug 2018
    • Syria

    Dollars for Syria

    Rodger Shanahan
    Given that all signs point to Bashar al-Assad staying in power, who pays for reconstruction becomes a thorny question.
  • 10 Jul 2018
    • Syria

    Syria: extinguishing the flame of the revolution

    Rodger Shanahan
    Bashar al-Assad faces more challenges, but momentum in military campaigns is a difficult thing to stop.
  • 19 Apr 2018
    • Europe
    • Syria

    Europe: the movers and the shakers

    David Ritchie
    The responses to the Syria strikes illustrate a troubling divide in Europe in defending Western principles.
  • 15 Apr 2018
    • United States
    • Syria

    Syria strikes: mission accomplished?

    Daniel Flitton
    <p>The US felt compelled to act,&nbsp;Bashar al-Assad has been punished,&nbsp;yet may not be deterred.</p>
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