Not a politician by nature, the current president of Syria never aspired to be involved in politics. His brother Bassel Al-Assad however, was being groomed to become his father's successor. His name spoken summoned images of a vocal, shrewd, dynamic man...

A number of analysts and scholars of the Middle East have argued that the revolutions and uprisings taking place in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Syria are the first of their kind to take place in the region. However, a closer look at the history of the modern Middle East...

(This article was first published in Foreign Policy)

Many analyses have been made about Iran's strategic and geopolitical role in the Syrian regime, but not enough attention has been paid to the crucial and changing economic relations between the two countries. By analyzing Iran-Syria...

As the crisis in Syria deepens, world powers have become more divided over how to resolve it. The death toll exceeds 20,000, according to the United Nations. In an unprecedented move, the Arab League called for the U.N. Security Council to end the violence in Syria. However, the...

The world may have been able to pretend that it was not aware of the genocides taking place in Germany in the 1930s and '40s or in Rwanda in the 1990s. However, considering all...

It is difficult to talk about this, but I think we should speak up to protect the lives of other human beings. Being the son of a man who was brutally tortured by Syrian security forces, al-mukhabarat, for standing up for his basic human rights and criticizing the regime, I...

In an attempt to depict the Arab uprising as revolts inspired by the Iranian Islamic Revolution, Tehran hosted a conference called the "Islamic Awakening" and invited a number of young Arab activists. Unsurprisingly, no Syrian activists were invited.

The conference began...

Undoubtedly, the Syrian regime and its security apparatus are emboldened and empowered by Moscow and Beijing's two vetoes of a UN Security Council resolution which was not calling for a military intervention or a comprehensive regime change, but for a peaceful...

Both the Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council were established with the purpose of strengthening relations between Arab states, to safeguard their sovereignty, and to address general concerns about the affairs and interests of Arab member nations. Recently, these two organizations have become key international actors that may be able...

Although Iran, Iraq and Lebanon have taken almost the same position in warning about the possibility of civil war in case of the ouster of Assad, they have different concerns and objectives in regard with this issue. Being bordered with Syria and having lived through civil wars, Iraq and Lebanon...

What makes Syria different from Libya is not just its multi-religious, multi-ethnic societal fabric, but also the different level of domestic, regional, and international involvement in Syria's crisis. In Libya's case, there was more domestic and international involvement. Hundreds of thousands of people and opposition groups expressed their dissatisfaction with...

The alleged plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to the United States triggered anxieties about Iran's policies toward Arab countries specifically Saudi Arabia, and its intentions for regional hegemony. With the advent of the Arab Spring, Iran has been attempting to affect developments in almost every nation it believes it...

The upheavals in Syria have generally been interpreted from a culturalist or structuralist perspective. Some attribute the emergence of the democratic uprisings to historic long-term tensions between different ethnic groups which include Alaawite, Syrian Turkmen, Armenians, Druze, Sunnis and the Assyrians (a significant Christian minority in Syria). Although the Baa'th...

Having taught Sarah Emily Shroud and her fiancé Shane Michael Bauer in Damascus, Syria, I was able to learn about their goals and aspirations, one of which was to leave the comfort of their homes in the US to help poor communities living in the Middle East. They strived to...

On the surface, the pro-democracy movements taking place in Syria may appear to share similarities with the revolts of Egypt and Tunisia. Namely, all three uprisings were reactions to the massive physical and emotional daily suffering being felt by large portions of people living in all three countries. Given the...

Since the beginning of the Syrian uprisings, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been blessed with several fortuities and coincidences that have allowed him, not only to survive, but to maintain his hold on power. The first of this series of coincidences led to Assad's rise to power in 2001. Basil...