Week in Review - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Week in Review

Why are Syria's IDPs returning home?

Week in Review

Russia shows no signs of ditching Iran over Syria

Week in Review

US decision to cut aid could be opening for flagging Saudi approach to Syria

Week in Review

Syrians gather at a site of car bomb in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on August 2, 2018. - Idlib is the last of four "de-escalation" zones agreed by world powers in 2017 where the rebels still have a major presence. Strategically important Idlib province shares a border with rebel-backer Turkey and is adjacent to Latakia, a regime stronghold on the Mediterranean. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey’s time running out in Idlib

Week in Review

A Turkish military armoured vehicle guards on the border line located opposite the Syrian town of Atimah, Idlib province, in this picture taken from Reyhanli, Hatay province, Turkey October 10, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC117E0C0980

Putin man in the middle between Assad, Erdogan over Idlib

Week in Review

A Syrian boy holds the Iranian flag as a truck carrying aid provided by Iran arrives in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor on September 20, 2017 while Syrian government forces continue to press forward with Russian air cover in the offensive against Islamic State group jihadists across the province.
Two separate offensives are under way against the jihadists in the area -- one by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the other by Russian-backed government forces. The Syrian army now controls around 70 percent

Did Israel nix Russian deal on Iran-backed forces in Syria?

Week in Review

The art of the deal in Helsinki – the next chapter

Week in Review

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1E7D8D2110

The art of the deal in Helsinki

Week in Review

Rouhani goes on offense against critics, shady interests and ‘culture of opacity’

Week in Review

Israeli soldiers walk past an Iron Dome rocket interceptor battery deployed near central Gaza Strip, southern Israel October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC173427FF50

Is Israel going easy on Hamas?

Week in Review

A tank belonging to Turkish soldiers and Ankara-backed Syrian Arab fighters is seen in the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin in northwestern Syria after they took control of it from Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) on March 18, 2018.
Turkish-backed rebels have seized the centre of Afrin city in northern Syria, Ankara said, as they made rapid gains in their campaign against Kurdish forces. A civilian inside Afrin said that rebels had deployed in the city centre and that the Kurdish People's Protection Un

Turkey’s Kurdish policies provoke backlash everywhere

Week in Review

Turkish army tanks and military personal are stationed in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo - S1BEUGNIHMAA

Iran coy on support for Turkish assault on PKK in Iraq

Week in Review