Syria

Wounded Patients in Syria’s Hospitals are Tortured, Along with Medical Staff Suspected of Treating Injured Protesters, Says New Amnesty International Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4cF7XhOnSQ&feature=player_embedded Human Rights Organization Documents Cases of Injured Protesters Being Beaten by Security Agents in Hospitals Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] (New York) — The Syrian government has turned hospitals into instruments of repression […]

While all eyes are on a likely Turkish land incursion against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Turkey faces the prospect of another security and ideological challenge in the Kurdish hinterland across its border, this time in Syria. Syria’s 1.8 million Kurds (10% of the population) have arguably been the most quiescent of […]

Emerging Leaders from Egypt and Tunisia Awarded Fellowships to Work in Congress and U.S. Media Outlets Washington D.C. — The World Affairs Institute has selected thirteen young Egyptians and Tunisians to participate in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Democracy Fellows Program. The Democracy Fellows will arrive on October 1 to begin their two-month […]

The following is a contributing piece from guest writer Ladan Yazdian. Ms. Yazdian is a foreign affairs and Middle East specialist. She holds a BA and an MA in political science. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, working on global security, foreign policy, international relations, and human rights. In the wake of […]

In light of President Obama’s recent call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, The Foreign Policy Initiative Executive Director Jamie M. Fly and 32 other signatories have signed a letter urging President Obama to take additional, common-sense steps to further pressure the Assad regime and thus make clear that the United States stands […]

Suzanne Trimel, Media Relations Director Amnesty International USA New York – Amnesty International today called the United Nations Security Council response to the bloodshed in Syria “completely inadequate” and “deeply disappointing” and pressed the Council for a “firm and legally binding” position imposing an arms embargo, freezing President Al-Assad’s assets and pursuing an international investigation […]

This week the Syrian Uprising has taken on a newly sectarian character, a disturbing development, and one that could spell a much more violent and unpredictable future for the unstable nation. On Sunday, Homs, Syria’s third largest city, saw the first openly sectarian violence of the now almost five month old unrest. It appears that […]

In chess there are several ways a game can end without a victor, none of them particularly satisfying. There is the stalemate, when a player cannot move but is not in check; essentially a locked board. There is the fifty-move rule, which kicks in when fifty successive moves do not result in a capture; no […]

As the FPA Blog site is going under the knife in about an hour, I won’t have time to put up a full post today. However, I wanted to get something up before the anesthetic sets in. As readers of yesterday’s post know, signs were pointing towards a governmental attempt to seize the reform narrative. […]

First of all, allow yours truly to apologize for the conspicuous gap in posts of late. There has been a fairly serious medical emergency with the paterfamilias which has kept me away from the blogosphere. My bad. The good news is that all is now well, and I’m back to a regular posting schedule. Lucky […]

Another day of Syria dominating the press. I’ll try my best to continue to update things in anticipation of another pivotal friday of protests coming up tomorrow. Check it. Northern Exposure Continued I just want to continue to update the Jisr al-Shaggour story. As of this evening, the number of Syrian refugees to have crossed […]

Before I start off today’s post I want to thank the OLLI program of Portland for having me yesterday. I gave a presentation there on my experiences in Syria, and could not have had a more pleasant experience. It’s very rewarding to get the opportunity to speak with such an involved and engaged group of […]