When Donald Trump tweeted in early 2016, “the Iran deal is terrible”, few took him seriously. A little over two years on, Twitter is a medium for diplomacy, Donald Trump is President, and America is withdrawing from the Iran Deal. This should not come as a shock. Not a single Republican supported the Obama-era accord, […]
Syria
Legacy of the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring has produced mixed results in the Middle East. It was initially a movement driven by economic factors: rampant unemployment and the unfair and grossly unequal distribution of wealth forced young people out onto the streets to demand the fall of the dictatorships that had ruled their countries for decades. In countries such […]
Why America was justified in bombing Syria
The issue here is a simple moral one concerning first, violence, and second, interventionism. I’ll appeal to the second Iraq war for reference. While the west ought to evaluate its position regarding international intervention before it can unhypocritically appoint itself the ethical watchdog of the developing world, it is not difficult to imagine what would […]
Why America was unjustified in bombing Syria
On the 7th of April 2017, President Donald Trump plunged America into war. In retaliation to Syria launching a chemical attack on its own people, America fired 50 Tomahawk missiles at one of their air bases. In what seems to be an uncharacteristically compassionate move from President Trump, America has clearly shown where they draw […]
Ten thoughts for 2017
After the trials and tribulations of 2016, here are ten thoughts to take away for 2017: 1) Don’t cling too hard to any predictions, good or bad. If 2016 taught us anything, it’s that if a storm has been brewing for a while, no amount of wishful thinking or good intentions will preventing from breaking – […]
What is Russia after in Crimea and Syria? The sea
“A great leader who has an army has one hand, but he who has a navy has two.” – attributed to Peter the Great At first glance, Crimea and Syria seem to have little in common. Aside from both being the sites of intense contemporary conflict, one is a peninsula in Eastern Europe torn between pro- […]
Goodbye Free Aleppo
Forget Brexit. Forget Trump. When historians look back at 2016, they will not care how many famous people died. They will look on this year as the year in which the international community stood back and watched the Syrian genocide. I was brought up, like most Europeans, to believe that the reason we study the history […]
‘It is genocide, in every sense of the word’ – an interview with Oz Katerji
Oz Katerji is a journalist and filmmaker known among Middle East specialists for his comprehensive knowledge and sharp analysis. His current focus is on the Syrian crisis, and he was recently in the media for protesting at a speech made by Jeremy Corbyn at a Stop the War Coalition event. Despite having begun around five years ago, […]
Syria truce: turning point or status quo?
Monday 12 September, the first day of Islam’s most important annual festival, Eid al-Adha, marked the beginning of a “cessation of hostilities” in the ever-bloody conflict in Syria, according to a deal brokered by diplomats from the United States and Russia. This truce was not the first of its kind in Syria and will certainly […]
We cannot talk about Syria without talking about Assad
On April 22 2016, the Assad regime in Syria, and its Russian military allies, broke a negotiated ceasefire by unleashing a bombing campaign against opposition-held areas of the country’s second city, Aleppo. The embattled government claimed to be targeting Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat an-Nusra, which has had varying levels of influence in the city over the past […]