Syria | openDemocracy

“Only war makes it possible to mobilize all of today’s technical resources while maintaining the property system.”

- Walter Benjamin, 1936

Syria: war and diplomacy

Paul Rogers 23 August 2012

The destructive potential of Syria's conflict is creating alarm in Washington and a bare margin of hope for diplomatic progress.

With its firm support for Assad, Tehran is running a great risk

Mareike Enghusen 21 August 2012

It is no easy thing to let your best friend go. But Iran needs to change its attitude towards the Syrian regime if it wants to stay a relevant player in the Middle East.

Secularists and Islamists alike have long suffered under the shadow of autocratic rule. What is required now is the strength and courage to actively integrate and mix so that we can be rid of the corrosive prejudices which threaten what this revolution stands for

Can Lebanon resist the sectarian narrative being foisted on Syria?

Shane Farrell 19 August 2012

A Lebanon-based journalist examines the possibility of violence spreading from Syria to Lebanon. There are reasons enough to fear the worst, but also signs of real restraint.

Syria: turning back the clock on the Arab Spring

Ahmad Barqawi 18 August 2012

Whatever genuine grievances and demands for political reform the Syrian people might have had a year and half ago were trodden underfoot by this stampeding sectarian drive that the Syrian opposition itself worked so hard to foster among its own supporters.

Fallen analogies

Mona Chalabi 17 August 2012

Why a widespread analogy is harmful to fragile post-Arab Spring states and civil societies.

Can non-violent resistance and armed rebellion co-exist?

Ahmed E. Souaiaia 14 August 2012

The first and most important casualty of the militarization of the Syrian uprising is the non-violent movement.

This is our country, and Jesus is from here

Salam Kawakibi 10 August 2012

Examine the contributions of members of different religions and sects in achieving independence from the Ottoman Empire or the French mandate. Don’t use minorities to inflame feelings of insecurity in Syria

Iraq-Iran-Syria: triangle of war

Paul Rogers 9 August 2012

The American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 launched a grand strategy to reorder the middle east. A decade on, growing tensions over Iran and the conflict in Syria suggest that it created the seeds of even greater instability.

The unmaking of Syria

Issa Khalaf 7 August 2012

The Saudi regime and Washington are fundamentally working at cross-purposes, for the Saudis’ nemesis is al-Qaeda-like groups, not the Muslim Brotherhood, which will most likely be the beneficiary of armed chaos. Washington will set in motion a process it cannot control, to the calamity of the Syrian people.

Turkey’s Kurds: in need of more voices

William Gourlay 6 August 2012

The military approach, sole government policy since the 1980s, has failed. Hawkish voices are no longer able to dominate discussion and portray the Kurdish question solely as a security issue. Can a solution best be found through democratic means?

Syria, a path to justice

Clive Baldwin and Lotte Leicht 6 August 2012

The International Criminal Court could play a key role in securing justice over serious crimes perpetrated in Syria's conflict. But this in turn requires bold action from the European Union, say Lotte Leicht & Clive Baldwin.

Refused, confused or pleased to be sectarian in Syria?

Rita from Syria 6 August 2012

The author interviews the FSA and ponders its relationship to sectarianism in the wider context.

Syria, al-Qaida, and the future

Paul Rogers 2 August 2012

The changes in United States military strategy since the "war on terror" was at its height are echoed by the evolution of al-Qaida and its ideas. The consequences are being felt in Syria.

Manaf Tlass and the future of Syria

Christian Henderson 29 July 2012

A solution that includes the Tlass family is not worthy of the sacrifices that many ordinary Syrians have made.

This week's editor

Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

Europe from the bottom up

European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

A new Europe can only come from the bottom up
Etienne Balibar

A social Europe must be a political Europe
Bo Stråth

As Europe is provincialized: a reply to Etienne Balibar
Sandro Mezzadra

European debate

A republican call for a basic income
Daniel Raventos and Julie Wark

Nuclear non-proliferation

oDRussia at journalismfestival .com

Mali - the plot thickens

Remote control war

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