A monthly magazine on Syrian politics and society that cuts through the noise

Local Dynamics

New Look Shabiha

A Sunni town’s uneasy reinvention after years as a regime stronghold

To understand Qumhane’s relationship with the Assad regime, one must go back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when an Islamist armed rebellion arose in Hama province and other parts of northern Syri…

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Diplomacy
Wise after the fact
Three points on SDF integration that don’t stand scrutiny
Politics & Power
Play hard, trust no one
Lessons from the General Syrian Congress, 1919-1920
Economy, Aid & Reconstruction
The Great Humanitarian Recession
Blended finance may offer help beyond grants and without illusions
Interviews
Defiance
A conversation with Loubna Mrie
February 2026 issue →
Issue 32

Opinion

Voices that sharpen Syria's public debate

Hiba Ezzideen

What I overheard at the mosque

In post-dictatorship Syria, lipstick sparks more outrage than corruption. An overheard conversation in a mosque reveals a nation trying to control its destiny by controlling what women put on their faces.

27. February 2026

Kinan al-Nahhas

Germany’s Nuremberg trials are no blueprint for Syria

Can Germany’s post-war experience really serve as a blueprint for Syria’s transitional justice? A closer look reveals a far more complex – and violent – reality than the oft-cited Nuremberg Trials. Syria must craft its own path to justice, grounded in law, accountability, and the rights of victims.

25. February 2026

Yaser al-Daher

The threat of counter-revolution is real. But so is stagnation

As Syria’s new leadership charts a post-Assad course, it faces a stark dilemma: how to protect the revolution from its enemies without suffocating the pluralism it once promised.

21. February 2026

Ahmad Omar

The Damascus book fair was a festival of freedom

Queues, Kurdish titles, Ibn Taymiyyah, prayer halls and free buses to the exhibition ground. The Damascus book fair offered a compressed portrait of a country testing its new limits of plurality and free speech.

17. February 2026

Shivan Ibrahim

Let’s admit it: we’re fragmented

In today’s Syria, the loudest voices trade accusations while the language of development, justice and national renewal is drowned out. Admitting that we are a fragmented society is the first step towards rescue.

14. February 2026

Yaser al-Daher

How Fawwaz Haddad’s novels expose the Syrian condition

Fawwaz Haddad is a novelist who has traced the Syrian experience over the past fifty years. Long considered seditious under the former regime, his novels examine how political domination reshapes thought, culture, and moral judgment. In doing so, he has become one of the clearest literary voices of his generation. 

07. February 2026

Majed Dawi

A Kurdish perspective on the SDF-Damascus agreement

In the Kurdish street, the SDF–Damascus deal is not the end of the story but the beginning of a new chapter. It begins with stopping bloodshed and averting mass displacement, and ends with achieving political decentralisation by political means. 

05. February 2026

Muhsen al-Mustafa

Syria’s Kurds have an opportunity

With the military balance shifting and regional dynamics realigning, Syria’s Kurds face a rare opening: shift decisively from armed militias to political engagement and pluralism within a constitutional framework. They should seize the opportunity or risk further reversals. 

31. January 2026
More opinions

What (some) Syrians think

Syria Poll is live! The first wave presents findings from surveys conducted in Damascus, Rural Damascus, and Homs in early February 2026. Syria Poll examines how residents assess their living conditions, government performance, and recent political developments.

Click to read the survey results
More surveys

Previous issues

  • January 2026

    Issue 31
  • December 2025

    Issue 30
  • November 2025

    Issue 29
  • September 2025

    Issue 28
  • August 2025

    Issue 27
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About

Syria in Transition is a monthly magazine on Syrian politics, society, economics and culture. Produced by an experienced and diverse team of independent journalists, researchers, and linguists, it challenges lazy narratives, connects the dots, and stimulates debate on the issues that matter.

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