Syria

Even a mere quantitative analysis of Arab literary output during the years preceding the protests of 2011 would have revealed the turmoil already existing in North African and Middle Eastern societies. Nowadays, the prevailing idea is one of a distressing and inhumane future, but not everyone is giving up

From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Dot-com crash, George Kiraz has consecrated his life to the promotion of the Syriac culture. With ecumenical repercussions

After eight years of war in Syria it is possible to envisage the future of the country. The conflict is not likely to simply end, but it will be downsized

In the Syrian war the Kurds have played a key role in stemming the advance of the self-proclaimed Islamic State and they control now vast swaths of territory. An analysis of the political project of the PYD and its linkages with Abdullah Öcalan’s PKK

The American intervention in Iraq has set off an imposing political restructuring of the region, triggering a struggle between different religious and ethnic communities. Syria as a paradigm

The economy of the Middle Eastern country is collapsing and the refugee exodus is leading to a tragic loss of skill sets, knowledge base and capital that will have an impact on the future of the region. The crisis is increasingly being framed in sectarian ways

In Lebanon, there are at least 250,000 refugees aged between three and eighteen who are not attending school. The numbers are even more shocking if other countries hosting Syrians in the region are taken into consideration

Merely by surveying the events of the last hundred years, we can see just how much is happening today in Syria. What is going on there in fact is not simply a battle between the Baath Party and its opponents, nor a merely regional conflict, but a settling of accounts that could change the whole international equilibrium.

Conversation with Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio by Maria Laura Conte