In this difficult context, through different mechanisms, the artists engage with the consequences of war to restore social cohesion, stimulate imagination and revive hope.
The US president’s tweet declaring the US would recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Syrian territory was unexpected and will do nothing for regional stability.
The revolution begun by Syrians exactly eight years ago has been won – by the murderous leader they rebelled against. But the struggle for freedom, dignity and justice Syrians launched is not over.
On the eighth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, scholar Wendy Pearlman writes about the people who risked their lives and raised their voices to fight the oppressive rule of Bashar al-Assad.
The Ministry of Defence says the RAF killed or injured 4,315 enemy fighters in Iraq and Syria over a period with only one civilian casualty. Why do other organisations have very different numbers?
The Syrian civil war has ended, but there are millions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. With danger from a hostile regime back in Syria, what will happen to them now?
David Malet, American University School of Public Affairs
Many of the men and women who left homes in the West to join ISIS or similar terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq as fighters or supporters now want to come home. Should they be allowed back?
Iraq beat the Islamic State. Now, its Shia government is jailing and even executing all suspected terrorists – most of them Sunni Muslims. The clampdown may inflame a centuries-old sectarian divide.
Keeping the water and power on, managing sewers and collecting garbage will help communities shattered by the Syrian civil war rebuild – and keep out the Islamic State, says a former aid official.
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