The fight for Kobane is not limited to a local struggle against IS militants, but reverberates politically and strategically across the region.
Attention on the still ongoing Syrian civil war has chronically faded. Last remaining hopes for peace seem to have been dashed. But a peace conference that took place some months ago thought outside the box.
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: A Syrian fearing exile and return.
Many Syrian activists have left Syria voluntarily, either being refused permission to return or being threatened with imprisonment or death. They face an unknown destiny in exile.
رزان غزاوي تكتب عن علاقتها المتينة برزان زيتونة: الاسم, المبادئ, القضية و الايقونة المخفية. In English
The US and EU urgently need a better understanding of realities on the ground, the nature and diversity of attitudes to national self-determination in various parts of Kurdistan, and how they have been affected by the war against ISIS.
In the second part of our conversation on the state and sect in Syria with prominent Marxist thinkers from the region, we explore how sectarianism and class intersect in the dark realms of the Syrian elite. See part one.
Instead of empowering Syrian civil society and helping it to build its capacity, the aid community is rendering us more fragile.
What will three forces contribute to the defeat of ISIS: Arab autocrats, moderate Islamist groups and secular democratic protest movements - the first initiators of the Arab Revolt? We can discount the first...
IS was created by lack of justice, dignity and governance. Instead of tackling these root issues, the US chose to target the outcomes through brutal terrorism to maintain its hegemonic power structure in the region.
The international community should support a secular, multi-religious and multi-ethnic Rojava with democratic ambitions, that is a threat for IS and equally for the conservative Islamic government in Turkey. This is democracy in action in the Middle East.
