‘War is the continuation of politics by other means’. This well-known quote from 19th century Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz epitomises the Russian and Chinese role in the Syrian conflict, which is now in its tenth year. The conflict began in March 2011 after pro-democracy protests in Syria were brutally crushed by the Syrian […]
Archive | Syria
Explaining the China-Russia Partnership in Syria
Posted on September 4, 2020.
Posted in China, Conflict, Middle East, Russia, Syria, UN, World
Video: Obama’s “Red Line” That Wasn’t
Posted on April 1, 2016.
The Atlantic explores President Obama’s decision not to bomb Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s army killed more than 1,400 people with sarin gas. It offers a new and insightful evaluation of Obama and his legacy.
Posted in Global Politics Videos, Russia, Syria, US, World
An Iraqi-Kurdish Conflict Casts Doubt on the “Shia Crescent” Theory
Posted on September 9, 2017.
An alliance between Kurdish leftists and Iraqi militias shows why it’s dangerous to overestimate Iran’s role in the so-called “Shia crescent.” In light of the breakdown of state structures in Iraq and Syria, it’s tempting to try to build narratives that portray entire ethnic groups or sects as pawns of great powers like Iran, as […]
Posted in Conflict, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey, World
![By U.S. Department of State from United States [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://global-politics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Secretary_Tillerson_Meets_With_Turkish_President_Erdogan_in_Ankara_32921677813-74x58.jpg "How to Prevent Further Rifts Between the US and Turkey in Syria")
How to Prevent Further Rifts Between the US and Turkey in Syria
Posted on March 24, 2018.
By U.S. Department of State from United States [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Authors: Dr Simon A. Waldman is a Mercator-IPC fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center and a visiting research fellow at King’s College London. Engin Onuk is an intern at the İstanbul Policy Center and a masters student in the International Relations Department in İstanbul […]
Posted in Middle East, Syria, Turkey, World
Understanding the Saudi-Iranian Cold War: A Road Map
Posted on January 22, 2016.
The execution of a renowned Arab Shi’a cleric, Sheikh Nimr, just after the New Year has set long-standing rivals Iran and Saudi-Arabia on a new collision course. Radical elements in Iran attacked the Saudi diplomatic compound in the country prompting Riyadh to sever its relations with Tehran. While the Iranian government condemned the attacks, immediately dismissing some officials […]
Posted in Conflict, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Political Security, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, World
Should We Empathize With Extremists?
Posted on February 17, 2016.
When U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested in a recent Security Council speech that an Israeli drive to build settlements beyond its territory partly fueled Palestinian extremism, it drew ire from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “There is no justification for terror,” responded Netanyahu. “The comments of the U.N. Secretary-General encourage terror.” In the epochal ‘war […]
Posted in Islam, Israel, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Shaping Safety: How Architects Can Build a Stronger Peace
Posted on March 10, 2016.
I take my home for granted. There, I said it. Chances are you do, too, if your conception of home – like mine – does not include worrying about the daily dangers of a civil war playing out on your doorstep; the mortar shelling that has left your family homeless; or the stability of […]
Posted in Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Middle East, Refugees, Security Issues, Syria, World
Interview: A Diplomatic View – From the Middle East to Obama’s U.K. Trip
Posted on May 7, 2016.
I sat down with the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.K., Minister Elizabeth Dibble, to discuss the Obama visit, the Middle East and the complex Iran-Saudi relationship. The Obama Visit to the U.K. D.M.: You touched on President Obama’s visit in your talk and what he said about the EU referendum. What for […]
Posted in Conflict, Interviews, Iran, Israel, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Political Security, Saudi Arabia, Security Issues, Syria, US, World, Yemen
The Strength of the Bear: Russia in a Post-Cold War Context
Posted on November 20, 2016.
On the cusp of a war in which millions lost their lives, borders shifted and modern warfare was revolutionized, Winston Churchill made an observation of Russia: “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.” For decades, Russia has fascinated […]
Syria’s Revolution and The Problem of Conspiracy Theories
Posted on December 27, 2012.
Ever since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, the idea of conspiracy has permeated the language of the official Syrian media, the Assad regime’s proponents in Lebanon, and has been reflected in discussions within Arab intelligentsias. As soon as the Syrian revolution started, the Syrian regime claimed that the country had been exposed to an […]
Posted in Conflict, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Afghanistan and Syria: How History is Repeating Itself
Posted on September 2, 2012.
The violence in Syria is escalating and the international community’s efforts to resolve the situation through the United Nations peace plan have failed, leading to Kofi Annan’s resignation as the UN’s Syria envoy. Syrians are in dire need of a peaceful, sustainable resolution but owing to the number of factions involved and the serious human […]
Posted in Middle East, Russia, Security Issues, Syria, World
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: On the History and Legality of Detention Centres
Posted on May 7, 2016.
It’s official: Australia’s “Stop the Boats” campaign is a success. Or so the government claims. Back in 2013, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott ascended to his post in part because of his pledge to “stop the boats,” or, in less catchy rhetoric, to prevent asylum seekers – mostly arriving by sea from the Middle East […]
Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Conflict, Europe, Iran, Political Security, Refugees, Syria, UN, World
Mediterranean Migration Reveals Flaws in Dublin Convention
Posted on February 21, 2015.
John Donne famously reminded us that ‘no man is an island’. Likewise in today’s polycentric, ever-globalized, and interconnected world, no state can remain untouched by social, economic, or political influences from neighbouring states. As terrible as Islamic State has been for people living in Syria, Iraq and Libya, its effects on Europe are also increasingly being felt. […]
Posted in Africa, Conflict, Economic Security, Europe, Germany, Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Refugees, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, UN, World
Kurdistan: the Next Epicentre of Regional Instability
Posted on August 30, 2015.
Kurdistan is a nation that encompasses parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey, but it is not a state. In post-Saddam Iraq the Kurds have had success in forming a new autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) with their own military. In July last year, KRG President Masoud Barzani asked his parliament to prepare for an independence referendum. The Kurds have a […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, US, World
Was ISIS Inevitable?
Posted on April 4, 2015.
ISIS’ exploits dominate headlines, horrifying witnesses around the world. As a history graduate who specialised in researching the rise of Islam, its culture, and its creation of a complex and inspiring civilisation, the recent destruction of millennia old artefacts have almost reduced me to tears. As we now watch and condemn the destruction of priceless […]
Posted in Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Political Security, Refugees, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
After Authoritarianism: State Development and National Identity in the Middle East
Posted on April 18, 2015.
The Arab Uprisings have resulted in an increase in the expression of both sectarian and trans-state identities, making the process of reunification and the prospects for a peaceful coexistence somewhat dependent on the new leaderships’ ability to unite, make amends and, possibly for the first time in the region, craft a territorial nationalism that complements rather […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Syria, Terrorism, World
The overlooked story of Syria’s Yarmouk death camp
Posted on April 20, 2015.
A brave 12-year-old girl named Zeynab Daghastani recently attempted to escape the grim living conditions of a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. Starving and bone-tired, she did not make it very far before being shot and killed by an ISIS sniper. Welcome to Yarmouk. On April 1st, a group of ISIS’s mask-wearing jihadists swept through the […]
Posted in Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Political Security, Refugees, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, UN, US, World
ISIS, Islam and Credulity: More Irreverence Needed in the Fight Against Extremism
Posted on March 15, 2015.
This week, King Abdullah of Jordan appealed to European parliamentarians to help root out both terrorism and ‘Islamophobia’. Setting aside this interesting conflation, the wholesale failure of Arab and majority Muslim countries to embody either mutual respect or inclusivity towards many of their ethno-religious minorities bespeaks of an imbalance in critical attention to how those […]
Posted in Europe, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Political Security, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
ISIS and The Illusion of Power
Posted on March 5, 2015.
It can be difficult to stay optimistic about peace while an atmosphere of gloom permeates the contemporary Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria. It is nearly impossible to watch the news without being inundated by provocative visuals of ISIS’s atavistic executions of U.S. journalists and perplexed by ISIS’s seemingly uncanny ability to recruit Westerners. […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Religion, Syria, Terrorism, US, World
Al-Maliki Plays Regional Power Games in Syria
Posted on February 10, 2013.
In a speech on the occasion of the opening of the World Youth Festival in Baghdad on the 12th of August last year, the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki described the Syrian revolution as a fire, ignited either by ignorant haters or by external wills for the purposes of their own policies and interests. However, […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
-
“Today’s Morocco is Not That of the Past”
-
When Putsch Comes to Shove: A Historical Take on Trump’s Attack at the Capitol
-
The Significance of the Morocco-Israel-US Deal for Regional Peace
-
Undoing the GOP Manipulation of the Courts. What the US Can Learn From Germany
-
The Futures of US Foreign Policy in Latin America
Global Politics Contributors
Like Us On Facebook
Global Politics Links
Global Politics on Linkedin
Global Politics Magazine, together with its group on Linked In, is intended to facilitate critical discussion and promote the exchange of ideas amongst international relations professionals, journalists and academics. 
Global Politics Facebook Group
Global Politics together with its Facebook group provides a forum in which journalists, academics, international relations professionals and the next generation of global policy makers can exchange insights, debate viewpoints, and develop new approaches.
© 2024 Global Politics. Powered by WordPress.
