World Politics

Russian version of the article.

For more than a decade, the conflict in Syria appeared too intense, too complex, and too intertwined in geopolitics to be resolved, with the international community choosing to prioritize managing and containing the symptoms rather than seeking to resolve their root causes. However, that all changed in late 2024, when armed opposition groups toppled the Assad regime in 10 days. Today, the country remains extraordinarily fragile and marked by the debilitating effects of a lengthy civil war. Despite a widespread national consensus on the need to reunify Syria, malign and destabilizing actors remain active, including ISIS, Iran, and pro-Assad loyalist insurgents. Nevertheless, there is now a historic opportunity to reshape Syria for the first time in more than half a century. And engagement by the international community will be critical to the country’s success.

Treaties and institutions remain, but countries act as if they don’t.

Since a ceasefire halted fighting in Gaza, Israel has mounted an iron-fisted crackdown across the West Bank. Ostensibly targeting militants, the campaign has undermined the Palestinian Authority and cast the hard choices facing the Palestinian national movement into sharp relief.

really Trump and Vance yelling at Zelenskyy

Israel has passed a new bill which criminalises the questioning of the official narrative regarding 7 October 2023. The law, passed without opposition, bars non-Israeli citizens from entering or residing in the country if they or the organisations they represent deny the 7 October attack, question the Holocaust, or support the prosecution at international courts of Israeli security personnel for war crimes. It also expands a controversial 2017 amendment that prohibited visas for individuals associated with groups supporting the peaceful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a peaceful resolution to Russia’s now three-year war in Ukraine. VOA examined several approaches floated by think tanks recently aimed at achieving a lasting peace to the war.

Think this is effectively where the US stops pretending democracy is still a thing