On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime in Syria was overthrown by a rebel alliance led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The collapse of the family dictatorship was made possible by shifts in regional and international power dynamics. Key factors included Turkish support for the rebels, the...

Am 8. Dezember 2024 wurde in Syrien das Assad-Regime durch eine von Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) angeführte Rebellenallianz gestürzt. Dabei haben Veränderungen in den regionalen und internationalen Kräfteverhältnissen den Zusammenbruch der Familiendiktatur erst ermöglicht. Entscheidende...

On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime in Syria was overthrown by a rebel alliance led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The transitional government under Ahmad al-Sharaa now faces enormous economic, social and political challenges. It has yet to establish control over the country as a whole; and...

Am 8. Dezember 2024 wurde in Syrien das Assad-Regime durch eine von Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) angeführte Rebellenallianz gestürzt. Die Übergangsregierung unter Ahmad al-Sharaa steht nun vor immensen Herausforderungen - wirtschaftlich, gesellschaftlich und politisch. Noch hat sie auch...

In Syria, the immediate effects of the war in Ukraine have made an already difficult humanitarian situation even worse. Protracted violence in Ukraine or an expansion of the Ukraine war into a larger NATO-Russia confrontation would endanger multilateral cooperation on conflict management,...

Turkey-NATO relations are still sufficiently strong to keep the relationship from the brink, a new DIIS-report finds. But more dynamics are also gaining strength to render further troubles increasingly likely. The future of Turkey's NATO membership has been the subject of heated debate of late,...

The Ukraine crisis poses two particularly uneasy questions for Turkey: How to uphold a power balance in the Black Sea? And how to manage its relations between Russia, Ukraine and the West? So far, Ankara’s policy towards Moscow consists of both deterrence and dialogue. In regards deterrence,...

Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are taking steps to mend their ties. The UAE, it seems, is eager to refashion its image as a bridge-builder in regional politics and hedge its options in the face of the US downsizing its regional security commitments in the Middle East. Turkey, on its...

The war in Ukraine is set to increase the pressure on Turkey's balancing policy, shed light on the role of anti-Westernism in Ankara-Moscow relations, and reshape Turkey's relations with Russia and the West. The balancing policy will face a less permissive environment. However, a rupture in...