Free Syrian Translators (Originally published in Alhayat), 16 October 2011 It was clear that Sheikh Nawaf Ragheb Al Basheer was released, after two months of arrest, only after he was forced to appear on Syrian state television and say what the regime wanted to hear. It is also clear that the regime is not keen…

Jadaliyya, 14 August 2011 The ongoing Syrian uprising has paradoxical effects on Syrian society. On the one hand, it is an unparalleled opportunity for political education and for gaining a better understanding of the country’s affairs in general. On the other, it raises the human cost of the political transformation that an increasing percentage of…

Qantara.de, 15 May 2011 The point that the speakers for the Syrian regime are currently insisting on is evidently that the actions taken by the military and the security forces are aimed at organised armed gangs operating within the country. This assertion has become the foundation for the official version of what is happening in…

The New York Times, 10 April 2011 Damascus, Syria IN all my 50 years, I have never held a passport. Other than visiting Lebanon, I’d never left Syria when, in the fall of 2004, I was barred from leaving the country. I tried many times afterward to get a passport, but to no avail. I…

 Strategic Research and Communication Centre, 10 October 2010 Analysis article reviewing the factors and events that has transformed the social and political structure in the Syrian society leading to its contemporary state. Syria has been experiencing dramatic change since the year 2000. Exposure to globalisation, transition into new social economy, and the information age were…

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,  17 June 2009 The failures of the Bush Doctrine and the global economic crisis will shape the Obama administration’s Middle East policies in its first two years. While economic recovery is increasingly the administration’s top priority, there are indications that diplomacy and reconciliation efforts will determine Washington’s new strategy in…

Arab Reform Initiative, 14 June 2007   Is it necessary for a conversation about cultural or social diversity in Levantine or Arab societies to be tied to another conversation about the disintegration of these societies and the risk of allowing powerful western powers a firm foothold in the area? Is there not a way to…

The Daily Star, 28 October 2005 On October 16, four days after the violent death of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kenaan and five days before Detlev Mehlis released his report to the United Nations on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, several Syrian parties and individuals signed a historic document titled the…

The New York Times, 4 June 2005 On Monday, Syria's Baath Party will begin its 10th party congress, the second since President Bashar al-Assad took power in June 2000 and the first since the only other Baathist regime, that one in Iraq, was overthrown by American forces. In many respects the outcome of the gathering…

The Daily Star, 1 April 2005 Thirteen unelected Arab rulers and representatives of another nine held a "summit" in Algeria last week. The United States, the real elector of many Arab regimes, described the meeting as a "lost opportunity" and underlined there was nothing remarkable about it. For once Washington was not alone in its…