The loss of control over processing agricultural goods, such as turning grains into flour, have made it easier for the regime to punish large regions with starvation, and will in the future make it easier for foreign powers to grab hold of Syria through its dependent state.
For the international community, realizing the magnitude of the challenges and the spiralling economic costs, that include ripple effects on stability and foreign investment in the region, may be what it takes.
Ironically, the protest which was peaceful and demanded freedom for political detainees and an end to the "protest law" ended with more of them locked up and served with trumped up charges.
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: A voice from inside Mosul.
An interview by the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI), with an Iraqi human rights defender (“QC”) from Mosul – on June 18, 2014
As violence in Iraq threatens to overshadow nuclear talks between the US and Iran, we must avoid the tendency to rely on simplistic binaries, and instead recognize the linkages between these challenging dynamics to encourage cooperation.
By invading Iraq and mismanaging the aftermath, the United States precipitated Iraq's collapse as a unified state, but it did not cause it.
The purging of the Muslim Brotherhood from Egyptian politics will not necessarily put the country on the path to secularism, as Sisi finds his own ways to use religion for political ends.
It is surely not overly pessimistic to anticipate tension between Kurd and Sunni Arab in the months and years to come, almost regardless of the outcome of the current fighting. But Kurds are looking like much the best sort of neighbour in this desperate region.
When international organisations declare a crisis over and refugee camps are closed, what happens to those who remain? Oliver Tringham reports on a pilot community project to restore rights and create livelihoods for refugees forgotten in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Desperate not to let the Assad regime fall, Tehran continues to support and strengthen connections with its ally in Damascus. What unites them in this alliance?
