Europe needs to rethink its priorities on Syria – fast.
In 2014, this boy was affected by what activists say was a gas attack on the Syrian town of Telminnes; the most recent chemical attack was reported in late November, 2018
REUTERS/Amer Alfaj
For decades, international law did not allow one country to attack another that was using chemical weapons on its own people without UN approval. That’s changed, which means trouble for Syria.
Total destruction: Syrian soldiers patrol in south Damascus, Syria, in May 2018.
AAP/EPA/Youssef Badawi
Armed and backed by some of the world's largest known oil and gas reserves, Gazprom would be more powerful than US mercenaries such as Blackwater, and also closely linked to the Kremlin.
A White Helmet volunteer holds a pigeon as a symbol of peace during a solidarity protest in al-Ghouta, Syria, in August 2017.
EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED BADRA
Smear campaigns against humanitarian volunteers in war zones are nothing new.
The French National Assembly, which is debating a law that would allow “fake news” to be banned in the pre-election period.
Richard Ying et Tangui Morlier/Wikimedia
If states are permitted to determine when force is warranted, outside the existing legal framework, the legitimacy of that framework may be fatally undermined.
The absolute best at international intervention, believe him. So, so good at intervening.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
The bombing in Syria is based on a flawed strategy – just as Operation Rolling Thunder was during the Vietnam War. But will world leaders learn the lessons of history?
A woman holds a Syrian flag during a protest against air strikes on Syria in Baghdad, Iraq on April 15, 2018.
REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Rebuilding Syria will be complex and costly. But expertise and extensive funds will be in short supply due the geopolitical absence of the US and other Western countries.
Air strikes by the US, France and Britain destroy the Scientific Research Center building in Damascus, Syria.
AAP/ Youssef Badawi
The US, France and Britain launching air strikes this weekend on Syria in retalition for an alleged gas attack by the Assad regime – but niether side is likely to up the ante soon.
Ghouta, Syria is being destroyed. The latest news tells of at least 40 residents killed in a chemical weapons attack. But Ghouta's past was all about beauty, and its very name meant "green oasis."
Syria is a battlefield for outsiders.
Naeblys via Shutterstock
Even if Syria's armed conflict is somehow resolved, new proxy conflicts between regional actors are emerging on the country's soil.
Until the jihadist rebel groups are wiped out, there will be more civilian casualties, like this man and young boy in Eastern Ghouta.
Reuters/Bassam Khabieh
Despite a devastating toll in the seven-year conflict, which has seen 400,000 people killed and six million displaced, there is no end in sight for the people of Syria.
Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University