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Syria

The making and breaking of state power in Syria

Posted on 5th April 2025 by International Socialism

In May 2015, prominent al-Jazeera journalist Ahmed Mansur sat down with Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, leader of the Syrian armed faction, the Nusra Front, for a lengthy discussion of the group’s worldview and military strategy. His face hidden from the camera,… Continue Reading →

Article imperialism, Islamism, Syria

The “NGOisation” of the Syrian Revolution

Posted on 17th October 2019 by International Socialism

In March 2011 the Arab Spring arrived in Syria. Syrians had lived under the totalitarianism of the Asad family, first with the father, Hafez al-Asad (1971-2000), followed by the son, Bashaar al-Asad, for 40 years.1 This included a state of… Continue Reading →

Article Arab revolution, Middle East, NGOs, Syria

The contemporary dynamics of imperialism in the Middle East: a preliminary analysis

Posted on 26th June 2018 by Camilla

Recent months have been full of ominous signs of deepening conflict between the major players in what Alex Callinicos calls the “multi-level chess game” of Middle Eastern geopolitics.1 In March 2018, Turkish forces entered Syria, forcing tens of thousands to… Continue Reading →

Analysis Israel, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey

Why Turkish troops are in Syria

Posted on 11th April 2018 by Camilla

The peace process between the Turkish state and the Kurdish movement reached what everyone thought was its peak in January 2015. It was to die a painful death within two months. At the time the peace negotiations had been going… Continue Reading →

Analysis Rojava, Syria, Turkey

Understanding the counter-revolution

Posted on 3rd January 2017 by Camilla

A review of Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising (Saqi, 2016), £12.99 Gilbert Achcar is a Lebanese socialist living in Europe and a prominent commentator on Middle Eastern politics. His recent book Morbid Symptoms is meant to… Continue Reading →

Book reviews Arab spring, Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Syria

Interview: Lessons of the Syrian Revolution

Posted on 18th December 2016 by Camilla

Syrian socialist Ghayath Naisse, a member of the Revolutionary Left Current, spoke to Simon Assaf about the brutalisation of Syria, the goals of those intervening and the prospects for socialists in the region.1 SA: Let’s start with imperialism. What do… Continue Reading →

Interview Syria

Where does ISIS come from?

Posted on 22nd June 2016 by Camilla

A review of Abdel Bari Atwan, Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate (Saqi, 2015), £9.99 Rosa Luxemburg said that capitalism would end in either socialism or barbarism. Looking at the Middle East, as hopes of democracy and social justice have been… Continue Reading →

Book reviews ISIS, Islamism, Syria

ISIS, imperialism and the war in Syria

Posted on 6th January 2016 by Camilla

For the fourth time in less than a decade and half the UK is at war, and once again the vast majority of the victims will be Muslims. Bolstered by the votes and voices of the Labour right, on 2… Continue Reading →

Analysis imperialism, ISIS, Middle East, Syria

The “Islamic State” and the counter-revolution

Posted on 6th July 2015 by Camilla

According to the world’s media outlets and major heads of state, a new threat has been looming over “world peace” since June 2014—the threat of ISIS. ISIS was presented as an imminent danger and, far from being constrained to the… Continue Reading →

Article ISIS, Middle East, Syria

The Syrian crucible

Posted on 28th June 2012 by ISJ

The Arab revolutions have been a great inspiration for the struggle against capitalism and imperialism across the world. They have inspired and fed into a global mood of alienation and anger against the system as expressed in strikes, occupations and… Continue Reading →

Analysis Arab revolution, Syria
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