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The Biggest Losers
Meet the two (other) candidates running in the presidential election set to keep Bashar al-Assad in power.
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Welcome to the archives of Syria Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on May 15, 2018, and transitioned some of our coverage to Peacebuilding Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Syrian conflict. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
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Exploring the government in Syria, including the Baath Party and the Assad family’s inner circle, and the various foreign and domestic forces fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad.
Follow via RSSMeet the two (other) candidates running in the presidential election set to keep Bashar al-Assad in power.
Experts say the vote will affect not only the Syrian president but his allies, the opposition and the regime’s standing among global powers.
Phil Sands / The National
The National’s Syria correspondent on deteriorating rebel ties on the southern front.
Charles Lister Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Brookings Doha’s Charles Lister examines Syria’s changing battle lines — and momentum.
Analysts attribute the surge in violence to Syria’s June 3 presidential election – specifically, a desire to disrupt it, as rebel forces and opposition groups criticize the poll as a farce.
In a country where team allegiance can run deeper than ethnic, religious and political divisions, many civilians might not have the money to watch next month’s televised World Cup action.
Across the country, an increasing number of would-be soldiers are ducking Syria’s 21-month mandate. Instead, they’re hiding out – or taking up arms for the opposition.
Is the regime’s offensive in Deraa pegged to an increase in tensions between rebel factions here?
Charles Lister Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
Charles Lister of Brookings Doha examines Syria’s ongoing stalemate.
As ISIS pushes further into the oil-rich province, we look at the factors that make it so valuable to the extremist groups battling to control it.
Marah lives in a city under siege. She was 15 years old when the uprising began. This is the fifth in her series of memoirs of living in the midst of Syria’s war.
As tensions increase in the south between the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat al-Nusra, Assad focuses on the north, where an increased number of high-profile bombings have attracted international attention.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
Hassan Hassan
In The National, Hassan Hassan says that Syria’s rebel fighters, despite rumors to the contrary, are gaining steady ground.
Photos reportedly show bodies hung from crosses in a Raqqa square. Is the extremist group tightening its iron grip on the city?
Andrew Tabler
The Syrian president wants to impose a solution to the country’s crisis—on his terms.
News Deeply Contributor
HRW weighs in as carb bombs hit government-held territory in Homs.
The government has been accused of cutting Aleppo’s power supply as a way to get the opposition to bend. Now, local residents say the opposition is doing the same.
With tourism and investment at a standstill and unemployment on the rise, we look at the factors contributing to the Syrian economy’s collapse, and how big a factor Assad’s international allies have been in keeping his government afloat.
Maryam Saleh
The author remembers a source killed this month by a surface-to-surface missile.
Meet the young Syrians seeking to create a bridge between Syrian and Turkish culture - and to provide safe haven for their country’s exiled artists.
In a pickup truck, walkie-talkie in hand, Abu Nidal patrols his Damascus province city, transporting victims to its only working field hospital.
With Syrian elections slated for June 3, we survey pro-government, pro-opposition and “third party” voters in the Alawite stronghold.
As Syria’s medical infrastructure implodes, sufferers of chronic illness struggle to find regular treatment. Meet Sana, a young Damascene living with a rare skin disease, and her father, who struggles to provide the care she needs.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
While food aid begins to flow into the country, many Syrians are heading into the arms of the dictator to get it.
Bessma Momani
For the author, Syria unexpectedly takes center stage at this week’s annual IMF meetings.
An Assad has not faced a challenger for the presidency since 1970, when Hafez al-Assad seized power. Now, that could change.
David Kenner
BEIRUT – Amid opposition claims of new Syrian chemical weapons attacks, President Bashar al-Assad is fast approaching an important deadline for removing his stockpiles of the deadly armaments from from the country. It doesn’t appear that he’s going to meet it.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
Thousands of civilians are thought to be in custody of both Syrian state security and opposition groups. Once a biology student in the Syrian capital, one man, now free and living in Istanbul, takes us through his seven months of detention in centers around the city.
The battle for the last major rebel-held town in Qalamoun looms after a five-month campaign. A regime victory would afford it uninterrupted control of southwestern Syria.
At 32, a Syrian army deserter from Hama finds himself without a passport, eking out a living as an amateur trader, selling clothes between Turkey and Syria.
We look at why fighting has intensified in the Damascus suburbs, and why it will continue for months.
Rebel fighters and the Syrian army continue to fight for control of Observatory 45, a strategic hilltop post in the Alawite heartland. Analysts say the government is confident of victory.
With the National Defense Forces claiming victory in a message posted to Facebook, we look at how much of its home turf the Syrian Army has managed to reclaim since the rebel offensive began Mar. 21.
David Kenner
Foreign Policy’s David Kenner on why the Syrian leader will win this year’s presidential elections, even after three years of conflict.
As taxi cabs go unregulated, some civilians say they are spending the majority of their wages getting to work each day. But drivers say fuel hikes and other operating costs necessitate the higher fares.
Aron Lund Freelance Journalist and Analyst Specializing in Syria
The Carnegie Endowment’s Aron Lund on why the government starvation tactics have “worked as intended.”.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
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