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Welcome to the archives of Peacebuilding Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on September 1, 2018, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on global peace and security. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
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As tensions increase in the south between the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat al-Nusra, Assad focuses on the north, where an increased number of high-profile bombings have attracted international attention.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
Though falling short of formal diplomatic recognition, the move could improve both the SNC’s standing in the capital and its communication with the White House.
Negotiations for Ahmed Nehmeh’s release could have far-ranging consequences for both groups in Deraa.
Hassan Hassan
In The National, Hassan Hassan says that Syria’s rebel fighters, despite rumors to the contrary, are gaining steady ground.
Andrew Tabler
The Syrian president wants to impose a solution to the country’s crisis—on his terms.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
Frederic C. Hof / Atlantic Council
Atlantic Council’s Fred Hof argues that President Obama deliberately limited himself by framing the military option for Syria as unbelievably small or the full Monty: ‘invasion and occupation.’.
On Tuesday the U.N. Security Council will convene privately to consider and view images from a report about the alleged torture and execution of detainees by the Syrian government.
David Kenner
BEIRUT – Amid opposition claims of new Syrian chemical weapons attacks, President Bashar al-Assad is fast approaching an important deadline for removing his stockpiles of the deadly armaments from from the country. It doesn’t appear that he’s going to meet it.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
Charles Lister Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute
“This appears to be an extremely important development,” writes Charles Lister in the Huffington Post.
Despite a January conference that raised more than $2.3 billion in pledges, Syria’s international donors are stalling and the U.N. has been forced to reduce the amount of food in its family parcels by 20 percent. Now, a drought is poised to hit some of the country’s hardest-hit areas.
Mike Giglio
Buzzfeed’s Mike Giglio listens in.
David Kenner
Foreign Policy’s David Kenner on why the Syrian leader will win this year’s presidential elections, even after three years of conflict.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
On the heels of victory in Yabroud, we look at how the offensive in Latakia is stretching Assad’s resources. Despite diverting manpower from Idlib and Hama, the government is assured.
News Deeply Contributor
Why has Assad held on in western Syria? Here, the Atlantic Council’s Fred Hof weighs in on why the opposition’s fragmentation might not be the sole reason for the government’s staying power.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
In an Atlantic Council policy brief, Faysal Itani and Caerus Senior Analyst Nathaniel Rosenblatt argue that before it can attempt to moderate negotiations, the U.S. needs to build more leverage with parties on both sides of the Syrian conflict,
News Deeply Contributor
As the crisis in Ukraine accelerates, the Atlantic Council’s Fred Hof asks if a lax U.S. policy on Putin’s support of the Assad government has emboldened the Russian leader in the Crimea.
As the world watches and worries about an escalating crisis in Ukraine, Russia’s bold moves to protect its interests there are sparking comparisons with its role in Syria.
This weekend saw a breakthrough in diplomacy and practical action around Syria’s crisis, in the form of a unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution on humanitarian aid.
Frederic Hof Director, Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Geneva II was an attempt to fill that which nature abhors: a vacuum. Yet the vast emptiness of US policy toward Syria swallowed the effort itself, making it seem tiny, silly, and futile.
Charles Lister and William McCants
Aaron David Miller
There are many reasons that President Barack Obama doesn’t want to get involved in Syria.
The second round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva closed with an air of failure this weekend.
This week, more than 700 civilians were evacuated from besieged areas of Homs city, under the cover of a ceasefire that was the only tangible concession made during the first week of Geneva II peace talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been Bashar al-Assad’s vital political ally since the start of the Syrian conflict three years ago.
As peace talks resumed this week in Geneva, the government escalated aerial bombardment of Aleppo in a continued siege of rebel-held areas.
As the security situation in Syria deteriorates, the way editors choose to cover the story changes. For Foreign Policy’s David Kenner, it has meant more coverage from the borders, and an “ethical, legal and moral” refusal to send writers into the country.
Plans to remove the Syrian government’s chemical weapons cache by transporting them from Damascus to ships off the coast of Latakia province have missed deadlines throughout December and January. .
Geneva II peace talks resume on Monday, after a one-week pause. They pick up on a sense of positive momentum, despite limited grains of concrete progress.
Syria Deeply
A coalition of 47 former top diplomats, philanthropists and human rights defenders call on Russia to support a UN Security Council Resolution on humanitarian access to Syria.
Gordon Brown and Najib Azmi Mikati
BEIRUT – In the village of Akroum, in the northeast corner of Lebanon close to the Syrian border, a unique experiment is taking hundreds of Syrian refugee children off the streets and into school.
News Deeply Contributor
Each and every day that the barrel-bombing of Aleppo continues, the Asad regime reminds the world of its true colors.
Andrew Tabler
Last week, Andrew Tabler addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Tabler is a senior fellow in the Institute’s Program on Arab Politics and author of In the Lion’s Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington’s Battle with Syria.
There was more rhetorical sparring than there was actual negotiating this week in Geneva.
On the opening day of peace talks in Switzerland, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry came out stronger than predicted against the Syrian government, calling for regime change. .
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