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Syria

May 18, 2026

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives to attend the second day of the first Syrian-Emirati (United Arab Emirates) Investment Forum, at the People's Palace in Damascus on May 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Ports and infrastructure: UAE embraces new economic order in Syria

UAE-Syrian ties have moved faster than expected, with Abu Dhabi embracing President Ahmad al-Sharaa and relations shifting from normalization to investment opportunities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

A Syrian citizen exchanges old banknotes for new notes released and distributed by the central bank, at a bank in the capital, Damascus, on Jan. 3, 2026.

Interview

UK fintech brings foreign currency accounts to Syrians at home

The launch comes as Syria’s new government attempts to stabilize the country’s shattered economy following the January 2025 rise to power of President Ahmed al-Sharaa after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad.

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Latest News

Lebanon authorities release Salafist cleric Khaled Hablas: What to know

Khaled Hablas

Syria restores Raqqa oil field in former ISIS stronghold: What to know

Pictured in this undated image is the Al-Thawra oil field in Raqqa governorate, as rehabilitation works continue to restore production capacity.

Turkey's border reopening unlocks new sphere of influence in Syria

Turkish Red Crescent's cars and trucks cross the Turkish border as they leave the Syrian city of Tel Abyad on Oct. 19, 2019, in Akcakale, Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

British Prime Minister David Cameron (R) and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attend a meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria at the G20 summit in St Petersburg, September 6, 2013. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX139AN

'Diplomatic Vitality' Needed to Bring Peace to Syria

While the US public awaits President Barack Obama's speech on Sept. 10, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has publicly criticized a US military attack against Syria, lobbying to continue negotiations during Geneva II.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu before attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) security meetings in Bandar Seri Begawan July 2, 2013. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (BRUNEI - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX119IW

Would Syria Retaliate Against Turkey?

Al-Monitor’s analysis coverage of a possible US military strike on Syria.

A Syrian woman holds a banner for saving Maaloula while Lebanese and Syrian Christian Maronites pray for peace in Syria, in Harisa, Jounieh September 7, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTX13C2S

Syrian Islamist Rebels Threaten Maaloula, Christians

The Aramaic-speaking village of Maaloula, a symbol of religious and sectarian coexistence in Syria, has been invaded and desecrated by Islamist opposition groups.

Demonstrators form a human chain in front of security forces during a peace day rally at Taksim square in central Istanbul September 1, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX133II

Turks Oppose War in Syria

A recent Turkish poll shows that those opposed to a war in Syria grew from 57% to 72% over the past year.

A piece of the wreckage of Turkish F-4 jet which was shot down by Syria and retrieved from the seabed on Thursday, is seen in this undated, picture taken underwater and released by Turkish Chief of Staff July 5, 2012. Turkey's armed forces command said on Thursday it had retrieved the bodies of two pilots of a jet shot down by Syria last month, recovering them from the seabed 8.6 nautical miles from the Syrian coast. REUTERS/Turkey Land Forces Headquarters/Handout (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) FOR EDIT

Was Turkey's F-4 Shot Down Over Syria by a Lawyer?

Only a lawyer has been prosecuted following the shooting down of a Turkish jet over Syrian airspace in June 2012.

Christian clerics hold candles during a candle-lit vigil at the Balamand Monastery in Koura, near the north Lebanese city of Tripoli, to call for the release of bishops kidnapped in northern Syria two months ago, June 22, 2013. Greek Orthodox Patriarch John Yazigi led the candle-lit vigil on Saturday for Greek Orthodox archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, appealing to their kidnappers to free them and urging Syrian security forces to do more to win their release. REUTERS/Om

Christians In the Levant Grow Fearful Over US Syria Strike

Christians in Syria and Lebanon congregate to discuss the implications for their community should the United States follow through with its plans to carry out military strikes on Syria.

Syrian opposition demonstrators living in Jordan hold a poster of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a rally in front of the Turkish embassy in Amman June 26, 2011, in support of Turkey's tough stance against President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2O4DU

Five Lessons From Turkey’s 1998 Standoff With Syria

Revisiting the 1998 confrontation with Syria over Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan could help decision makers in Ankara avoid the pitfalls of intervention.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attends the first working session of the G20 Summit in Constantine Palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg, September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX138DI

Military Strike on Syria May Put Turkey at Risk

Turkey may become the target of Syrian retaliation and face domestic unrest in the case of a US strike on Syria.

Syrian refugees look out from their tent at a refugee camp in al-Qaim, Anbar province, September 8, 2012. Al Qaim, in the Sunni heartland of Anbar province, reflects the tricky balancing act Iraq's Shi'ite leaders face in Syria, whose crisis is testing the Middle East's sectarian divide. Al Qaim and its neighbouring Syrian counterpart Albu Kamal are on a strategic supply route for smugglers, gun-runners and now insurgents aiming to join the rebellion. Picture taken September 8, 2012. To match Feature SYRIA-

Iraq Needs Unity to Deal with Syria Crisis

As foreign military intervention in Syria grows more imminent, the Iraqi authorities would do well to set aside their internal differences and take the necessary precautions should its neighbor’s conflict spill over onto its territory.

A general view of Bushehr nuclear power plant, 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran, August 21, 2010. Iran began fuelling its first nuclear power plant on Saturday, a potent symbol of its growing regional sway and rejection of international sanctions designed to prevent it building a nuclear bomb. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTXSAXN

Syria's Chemical Weapons Could Inform Iran Nuclear Talks

By talking to Iran, the Obama administration could find a face-saving off-ramp for its Syrian conundrum and build trust for resolving Iran's nuclear crisis.

Syrian refugees, fleeing the violence in their country, wait to cross the border into the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, August 21, 2013. The government of Iraqi Kurdistan has set an entry quota of 3,000 refugees a day to cope with an influx of Kurds fleeing the civil war in Syria, but there are signs many more are still coming in, aid agencies said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTX12SKT

Syrian Kurdish Party Struggles With Dissent, Exodus

In Amuda, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has imposed a resolution banning Syrian Kurdish emigration after last month's mass exodus in pursuit of autonomy.

People with mobile phones film the Marine One while it takes off with U.S. President Barack Obama as he departs for Sweden and the G20 summit in Russia, from the White House in Washington September 3, 2013. Obama won the backing of key figures in the U.S. Congress, including Republicans, in his call for limited U.S. strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians. Obama will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and French

What Does Syria Crisis Hold for US, Iran?

The challenges of the Syrian crisis, and how Iran and the United States deal with it, will have a strong impact in the region.