After Assad

In What is literature? (1948) Jean-Paul Sartre argued that writers and artists have a responsibility to engage with political and social realities. But is it still possible for writers to have political agency in a culture that instantly commodifies ideas? Lea Ypi, a professor of ...  Show more

Since Trump first took office in 2016 there has been a debate on the left as to whether he and other authoritarian right-wing leaders, such as Viktor Orbán and Narendra Modi, should be described as fascist. Some have dismissed the label as rhetorical excess, while others have cho ...  Show more

After rebels took Syria’s capital, President Bashar Al-Assad fled Damascus for Russia, ending his brutal 24-year reign. His ouster marks the beginning of a new, uncertain phase for a country that’s been ravaged by 13 years of civil war.   On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s ...  Show more

In an 11-day offensive, Syrian opposition fighters have ended more than 50 years of Assad family rule. President Bashar al-Assad has fled to Moscow. As the Syrian people celebrate the fall of the regime, where will their country go from here? In this episode: Arwa Damon (@IamArwa ...  Show more

The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ending a 55-year dynasty begun by his father, dramatically shifts the pieces on the chessboard of the Middle East. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is armed and backed by Turkey and was onc ...

In a momentous week in the history of Syria, New Lines’ Middle East Editor Kareem Shaheen and Editorial Director Rasha Elass join Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede to discuss how the Assad regime’s collapse happened so quickly, the terrible symbolism of the Sednaya prison complex an ...