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

Book Review

Assadism as lived experience 

A review of Rime Allaf’s book It All Started in Damascus

Amid the many analyses of unbounded prison violence, institutional dysfunction and the kleptocratic lifestyle of the elites around the Assad family, it is easy to lose sight of a simpler fact: Syria’s…

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Local Dynamics
Autonomy under siege
Kurdish leaders face increasing polarisation at home as they attempt to hold back an emboldened Damascus
Politics & Power
Small Town Syria
Syria’s governance is marked by HTS factionalism rooted in provincial loyalties
Local Dynamics
Handarat after the fall
A shattered refugee camp becomes emblematic of the Palestinian ordeal in Syria 
Economy, Aid & Reconstruction
No quick fix
Oil, wheat and the limits of economic recovery in northeast Syria
Diplomacy
The demise of Conflict Studies
Who benefitted from a field tied to Western power?
March 2026 issue →
Issue 33

Opinion

Voices that sharpen Syria's public debate

Mohamad Kheir Alwazir

What justice do we want?

In the new Syria, one question remains: what kind of justice do we want? A justice that repairs society and restores trust in the state — or a selective justice that reproduces fear and throws open the doors to revenge?

03. March 2026

Mona Abboud

Our memory is not a Ramadan TV fad

As Ramadan dramas mine Syria’s revolution for ratings, a new series appropriates the name “Caesar” but strips it of its meaning. For those who endured detention, torture and disappearance, our memory is not seasonal content, and justice is not a script to be softened for prime time.

01. March 2026

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
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

  • February 2026

    Issue 32
  • January 2026

    Issue 31
  • December 2025

    Issue 30
  • November 2025

    Issue 29
  • September 2025

    Issue 28
View archive

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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