Rebel attacks on Syria’s two key cities had raised expectations that Assad was about to fall, but those may have been the Syrian equivalent to Vietnam’s Tet Offensive
Damascus
Russia and Syria’s Assad: The End of the Affair?
It has become clear to many officials in Moscow that the Assad regime cannot restore the pre-rebellion status quo in Syria, forcing them to consider backing away from a longtime client
Must-Reads from Around the World, July 23, 2012
Among today’s picks: the Syrian situation, Burma and Thailand play good neighbors and inside Argentina’s soccer hooligan culture.
As Syria Teeters, So Do Decades-Old Assumptions About the Middle East
The conflict is testing the brittle bonds of a national identity in states carved out of old Ottoman provinces at the end of World War I
On Triumphant Day for Syrian Rebels, Tragedy in One Small Town
A TIME correspondent sends in a dispatch from a town in the restive northern Syrian province of Idlib. On a day when rebels managed to kill four top figures in the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, there were reminders …
What Assad’s Regime Lost in a Devastating Damascus Blast
In a severe low to the regime’s inner circle, Assad lost four of his top lieutenants, including his brother-in-law. He also lost the all-important sense of invulnerability.
Syrian Defense Minister Killed as Rebels Strike at the Heart of Power
The fighting in Damascus is not quite an indication that the Assad government is about to fall. But it is a sign of how balkanized Syria is—and is likely to be.
Russian Realpolitik: Inside the Arms Trade with Syria
At an arms bazaar outside Moscow, military hardware and geopolitics are on display
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 25, 2012
Today’s stories include an update on the unfolding Turkey-Syria crisis, a dispatch from Mexico’s second city and the Chinese Communist Party’s main mouthpiece talking up property market intervention.
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 22, 2012
Summit Struggle – Ahead of Wednesday’s crunch E.U. summit, Der Spiegel reports that new French President François Hollande will pressure German Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to euro bonds, which she has so far strictly …
Damascus Blasts: Are Terrorists the Wild Card in Syria’s Power Struggle?
The twin suicide car bombings that reportedly killed 55 people and wounded 372 in Damascus on Thursday prompted a familiar set of responses: state television blamed unspecified “terrorists” for the atrocity, in keeping with its …
Twin Blasts Kill More Than 50 in Damascus
According to state television, two bombs exploded in the Syrian capital of Damascus on May 10, killing more than 50 people and injuring some 372 people. The blasts—the deadliest since the revolt against the rule of Bashar Assad …
Syria: Is This an Arab Spring or a Balkan Winter?
Special envoy Kofi Annan told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that his struggling peace plan is the last hope to prevent Syria from plunging into an all-out civil war. But the reason his cease-fire and political-dialogue …