Interview – Tariq Ramadan
Professor Ramadan answers your questions about the compatibility of Islam and liberal democracy, prospects for the Arab Spring, and the ongoing crisis in Syria.
Egyptian and Syrian Civil-Military Relations
The civil-military relations in Egypt and Syria help explain their domestic strife and the expected outcome after this ends. Both countries will face problems until these relations are resolved.
War in Syria: The Proxy Element
While there is a strong element of a proxy war behind the fighting in Syria, the forces and interests involved are best understood in terms of inter-state relations going back more than a decade.
The Third Phase of Syria’s Ongoing Civil War
Syria’s civil war has entered a new phase, which is likely to be more explosive than the ones that preceded it. These trends in the uprising have much to contribute to current scholarship on civil war.
The Syria on the Horizon
Bashar al-Assad and his circle will continue to refuse any Syria that is not theirs. There is no daylight for diplomacy here. A plausible scenario involves a war of multiple phases lasting years.
Are They Intervening Yet? Power and Spillover in the Syrian Conflict
Any question about whether the west should intervene in Syria is a fairly moot point when considering history. Although it may not be immediately recognisable, we have been intervening for some time.
Does Chemical Weapons Use by the Syrian Government Present a Watershed?
The way we think and feel about particular kinds of weapons is significantly influenced by the way they are talked about and acted upon by the powerful.
Interview – Chris Brown
Professor Brown answers reader questions about the theory-practice divide, non-Western political theory, the ongoing crisis in Syria, and challenges to the UN’s Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine.
Should Western Nations Arm Syrian Rebels?
There is a compelling case for increased militarization in the ongoing Syrian crisis, but such an intervention may seriously affect the prospects of finding a political solution to the conflict.
The Syrian Predicament
The civil war playing out in Syria is an extreme manifestation of a common problem: the creation of independent states based on boundaries that did not reflect social and demographic realities.
