The fallout from an event at the University of Melbourne where women and men were asked to sit separately has been intense.
The media coverage so far has focused on the issue of segregated seating in…
The conflict in Syria continues with no end in sight – is it time for true foreign intervention to solve the crisis?
EPA/SANA
The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate and could lead to a reconfiguration of the political order in the wider region.
The military capacity of the government appears to be in decline and there…
There are reports of up to 200 Australians joining up to fight with Syrian rebel groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, which may pose a threat to security at home.
Jabhat al-Nusra
The Syrian insurgent group Jabhat al-Nusra’s recent pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda, alongside reports of Australians fighting in the insurgency, highlights a security threat to Australia.
According…
The Free Syrian Army may claim democratic ideals, but it is almost exclusively a Sunni Muslim grouping fighting the Shia and Alawite forces of the dictator Bashar Al-Assad.
EPA/Maysun
The horror of the Syrian conflict appears to know no bounds. Every day brings news of a new atrocity and it is clear that both the rebels and the Assad government are guilty of human rights abuses on an…
Not all members of the Free Syria Army have the nation’s best interests at heart.
EPA/Maysun
Syria continues to be gutted, physically and psychologically, every day. Her people are terrorised and killed, infrastructure is decimated, and historical monuments are razed with astonishing levels of…
Australian Syrians protest in Hyde Park, Sydney, in February calling for the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down immediately.
AAP Image/Lauren Farrow
In Syria, the optimism which accompanied the Arab Spring uprising has faded into the reality of a bloody sectarian civil war. Recent media reports have highlighted the involvement of foreign fighters in…
Syrian rebels are using violence, but it may not be in their best interest.
EPA/Cem Ozdel
What should we hope for when we look at the ongoing crisis in Syria? I don’t really know anymore.
The most interesting book that I have read this year is Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic…
Syrian government forces during an operation in Aleppo.
SANA
The exchange of artillery fire between Turkish and Syrian forces over the past few days has seen a renewed focus on the possibility of an escalating war between Damascus and Ankara.
It seems that not…
A building Aleppo attacked by Free Syrian Army fighters.
EPA/Sana
It is a paradox of our digital age that, despite an enormous supply of information, a powerful yet misleading consensus can still shape the course of international relations. Such was the case with the…
A Syrian woman in Turkey prays for those left behind.
EPA/Tolga Bozoglu
In Syria, rape is being used by armed groups as a means to an end. In this context, reports have emerged detailing the use of sexual violence by Syrian armed forces and paramilitaries loyal to Assad…
The Crusader fortress of Krak De Chevalier has been damaged by shelling after rebels used it as a defensive position.
AAP image
The looting of the Baghdad Museum in 2003 during the invasion of Iraq is an example the consequences of war on national heritage. Almost a decade on, the civil war in Syria has seen history repeating itself…
With the war in Syria having no end in sight, is it time to support a no-fly zone?
EPA/CEM
Syrian opposition fighters and members of the aid community have called for a no-fly zone in recent months, amid an increasingly vicious armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
With thousands…
A group of Iranian pilgrims captured by the Free Syria Army who claim are Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Al Arabiya
This week the Islamic Republic of Iran made a blunt statement, reiterating its position in relation to the on-going conflict in Syria.
According to Saeed Jalili, a senior advisor to the Iranian Supreme…
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has lost a close ally after a bomb attack killed his Defense Minister Daoud Rajha.
EPA/SANA
In something reminiscent of the plot to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb, several high-ranking figures of the Assad regime have been killed in an apparent suicide attack. The top level security apparatchiks…
Foreign Minister Bob Carr expelled two Syrian diplomats on 29 May, 2012.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced that Australia will lead the way in expelling Syrian diplomats in response to the Al Houla massacre.
These theatrics are just another act in the shadow play…
The bodies of people, including children, that anti-government activists claimed were killed by the Syrian Army in Houla.
The appalling massacre of civilians, including children, in the town of Houla, near the Syrian city of Homs, was a senseless act beyond the unacceptable and ultimately self-defeating goal of crushing all…
After a longish lull, the ghastly images emanating from Houla have re-focused world attention on Syria and its rapidly deteriorating internal condition, as Mat Hardy pointed out on The Conversation yesterday…
Bodies are prepared for a mass funeral at Houla, Syria on the weekend.
While the photos currently coming out of Houla look like scenes of an apocalypse, anyone with Syrian friends or connections has seen equally horrifying videos and photos circulating on Facebook or Youtube…
Kofi Annan’s plan for troubled Syria has limited prospects.
EPA/Mohamed Omar
The conflict in Syria has often assumed the ominous characteristic of being insoluble or endless.
The government and its various opponents have shown little interest in compromise. The Assad regime’s…
Last Monday, Syria’s Interior Ministry announced the results of a referendum on a new constitution.
Of the 57.4% of eligible voters who went to the polls on 26 February 2012, 89.4% agreed to pass the…
Many Syrians prefer the stability of the Assad regime to the chaos they saw after dictators were deposed in Libya and Iraq.
EPA/Youssef Badawi
The stench of hypocrisy is a hard one to wash out for the West in the Middle East.
We shook Gadaffi’s hand and pretended we liked his outfits when he coughed up for Lockerbie and we snuggled with Mubarak…
The Arab League has repeatedly failed to effect political change in the region.
EPA/Amel Pain
This weekend, Syria witnessed some of its bloodiest days since political agitation began last year. Dozens were killed after the government launched a new military offensive against rebel group the Free…
The Occupy movement: different agendas, but united by the right to civil disobedience.
The “Occupy” movement has swept the world in the last five weeks, as seems appropriate in this year of demonstrations by people tired of a clapped-out status quo.
Of course, the Occupy movement is quite…
Syrian troops withdraw from the city of Hama where they were quelling pro-democracy protests.
AFP/STR
The United States has stepped up sanctions against Syria, targeting President Bashar al-Assad’s financial resources. Syria claims to have withdrawn its troops from the city of Hama, which has played a…
Hacktivists remove choice from consumers – and in their own way lay down the law.
anonmunich
As you’ll know by now, hacktivist group Anonymous has vandalised the home page of the Syrian Ministry of Defense, posting a message which started: “To the Syrian people: the world stands with you against…
A portrait of President Assad in Midan, Syria.
Brian Stoddard
Emeritus Professor Brian Stoddart, former Vice-Chancellor at La Trobe University, returned recently from an extended assignment working with universities in Syria.
Below is his account of his time in…
Syrian President Assad addresses the nation earlier this week.
AAP
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad made a major speech earlier this week promising major reforms in the way his country is governed in an attempt to end protests rocking the Middle Eastern country.
However…
Still from a video showing Syrian anti-government protestors in Hama on June 3 2011.
AFP/YouTube
As we watch the spot fires of democratic uprisings flicker across Syria it is worth remembering that the government’s response so far has been mild.
The religious tensions of the country and disaffection…
