Analysis
Since 2012, the Week in Review keeps you ahead of the curve with in-depth analysis of the trends in the region, based on Al-Monitor’s world class reporting.
Lebanon’s next chapter: A new social contract
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil blames “foreign countries” for “disrespect of elections” in his country.
![GettyImages-1019873526.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/GettyImages-1019873526.jpg/GettyImages-1019873526.jpg?h=4bd20877&itok=YSkgbS9t)
Putin grants Erdogan last chance to end Idlib quagmire on Turkey’s terms
Erdogan saves face in Sochi; did Turkey and Syria collaborate to capture Reyhanli terrorist?; Erdogan, Ocalan and Syria.
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Al-Qaeda, foreign fighters have nowhere to go from Idlib
Erdogan appeals for support to "moderate rebels," but what may ultimately matter is US-Russia common ground; Al-Monitor's award-winning lobbying series and archive now available.
![Syrian fighters attend a mock battle in anticipation of an attack by the regime on Idlib province and the surrounding countryside, during a graduation of new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) members at a camp in the countryside of the northern Idlib province on August 14, 2018. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/GettyImages-1016749004.jpg/GettyImages-1016749004.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=PoLJvgPB)
What to do about 10,000 al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in Idlib?
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stymies Turkey’s bid for cease-fire, welcomes Syrian assault.
![Syrian fighters fire their rifles as they attend a mock battle in anticipation of an attack by the regime on Idlib province and the surrounding countryside, during a graduation of new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) members at a camp in the countryside of the northern Idlib province on August 14, 2018. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/GettyImages-1016749128.jpg/GettyImages-1016749128.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=9XS6zRnG)
Why are Syria's IDPs returning home?
UNHCR Filippo Grandi visits Douma, Syria; Jabhat al-Nusra dead-enders and foreign fighters face last stand in Idlib.
![rts1WF9O.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/rts1WF9O.jpg/rts1WF9O.jpg?h=f15b89ee&itok=7kSV0AO4)
Russia shows no signs of ditching Iran over Syria
Turkey rallies jihadi armed groups to its side in Idlib; Lebanon backs Russian plan for Syrian refugees.
![RTS1YH6G-bolton-patrushev.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/08/RTS1YH6G-bolton-patrushev.jpg/RTS1YH6G-bolton-patrushev.jpg?h=69f1eb85&itok=CYGaEvRi)
US decision to cut aid could be opening for flagging Saudi approach to Syria
Syria stabilization will instead likely depend on Putin’s shuttle diplomacy with Ankara and Damascus.
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Turkey’s time running out in Idlib
Syrian Kurds could be a wild card in a possible showdown between Damascus and Ankara; Russia keeps the peace, for now, on the Israel-Syria border; Israel may have opened a new front of secret assassinations; the political economy of Iran’s protests.
![Syrians gather at a site of car bomb in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on August 2, 2018. - Idlib is the last of four "de-escalation" zones agreed by world powers in 2017 where the rebels still have a major presence. Strategically important Idlib province shares a border with rebel-backer Turkey and is adjacent to Latakia, a regime stronghold on the Mediterranean. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/08/GettyImages-1009588944.jpg/GettyImages-1009588944.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=KsuRZPOQ)
Putin man in the middle between Assad, Erdogan over Idlib
A Syrian government attack on Idlib could upend the Astana accord.
![A Turkish military armoured vehicle guards on the border line located opposite the Syrian town of Atimah, Idlib province, in this picture taken from Reyhanli, Hatay province, Turkey October 10, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC117E0C0980](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/08/RTS1FW6E.jpg/RTS1FW6E.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=-a7nNuWw)
Did Israel nix Russian deal on Iran-backed forces in Syria?
Putin intensifies diplomacy with Israel and Turkey, as Iran adjusts its Syria policy after Helsinki; Damascus and Syrian Kurds keep talking; Al-Monitor breaks story on costs of US Embassy in Jerusalem.
![A Syrian boy holds the Iranian flag as a truck carrying aid provided by Iran arrives in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor on September 20, 2017 while Syrian government forces continue to press forward with Russian air cover in the offensive against Islamic State group jihadists across the province.
Two separate offensives are under way against the jihadists in the area -- one by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the other by Russian-backed government forces. The Syrian army now controls around 70 percent](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/07/GettyImages-850238094.jpg/GettyImages-850238094.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=gtYPeJ1d)
Pagination
Netanyahu, regional leaders hedge on possible Trump win in November
The Israeli prime minister is under pressure to deliver on a cease-fire during his Washington visit next week; Biden can’t heal Democrat divisions over Israel and the Gaza war.
![JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-1230516369.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=-Zxq4qmm)
Lebanon FM warns of 'devastating’ regional war if Israel escalates campaign against Hezbollah
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanon's top diplomat, Abdallah Bou Habib, adds that security in the south ultimately depends on a strong Lebanese army and an agreement on the border – not war.
![BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 15: Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to the media following talks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on December 15, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The two diplomats discussed mutual measures to prevent the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict from expanding to other regions, among other issues. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-1857491748.jpg?h=9855f42d&itok=rgoJZYYE)
US, Iran guarantors of shaky deterrence between Israel and Hezbollah
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is not ready to go to the mattresses over the killing of another senior commander on Wednesday, and Iran doesn't want a war while it favors the threat of confrontation as a deterrent.
![A portrait of Musa al-Sadr sits amid the rubble of a destroyed building in the heavily damaged, Hezbollah stronghold town of Aita al Chaab on June 29, 2024 in Aita al Chaab, Lebanon. Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been trading cross-border fire since the October 7 attacks, with the conflict escalating in May when the group launched a missile-carrying drone against Israel for the first time. The conflict intensified in June when Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli m](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-2159834748.jpg?h=4296c093&itok=iuOsSvRF)
G42-Microsoft partnership in Kenya 'just the beginning,' says UAE trade minister
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi discusses momentum in UAE trade with the US, the benefits of economic diversification and Africa’s priority in UAE trade policy.
![Indonesian President Joko Widodo (L) listens to a speech by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (R) during the inauguration of the newly built floating solar power plant on the water that can generate 192 mega watts of peak electricity in cooperation between the Indonesian government and Masdar from the UAE, at Cirata Reservoir, West Java, on November 9, 2023. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo by BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-06/GettyImages-1771551969.jpg?h=1dfc45c8&itok=YsgRPZu4)