Frustrated by opposition failures and anxious over what would follow Assad, Western and Arab powers appear to be auditioning defector Manaf Tlass for a role in an interim ruling military council
Syria
By Ceding Northeastern Syria to the Kurds, Assad Puts Turkey in a Bind
Ankara has been a key backer of Syria’s rebellion, but the prospect of an Iraq-style autonomous Kurdish zone has Erdogan threatening to intervene
As Aleppo Braces for a Bloodbath, Syria’s Regime is Far From Beaten
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
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 25, 2012
Among today’s picks: An endless battle in eastern Syria, melting ice, and the CNOOC-Nexen deal.
A Dispatch from ‘Free’ Syria: How to Run a Liberated Town
Like many other rebel towns, Saraqeb is learning to govern itself while retaining as much of the bureaucracy of the regime it wants to overthrow
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
The Syrian Army Strikes Back: Eyewitness to Assad’s Retaliation on a Rebel Town
Saraqeb rejoiced when the heart of the regime was struck. Then the President’s soldiers hit back
Is Syria Facing a Yugoslavia-Style Breakup?
Even if the regime loses its grip on growing swaths of territory, the civil war’s sectarian dimension could see it opt to retreat into enclaves controlled by its base of Alawite, Christian and non-Sunni support
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.
Will Syria’s Conflict Spill Over into War-Weary Iraq?
As the violence in Syria spirals into an increasingly bloody maelstrom, Iraq’s Foreign Minister voices his country’s fears that the chaos is spilling across the border—and that Baghdad won’t be able to contain it