Maryam Al-Btoush

On Thursday evening, August 6, 2026, the city of Jaramana in the Damascus countryside witnessed an improvised explosive device (IED) blast inside a public minibus operating on a local transit route near Al-Rawda intersection in the city center. Casualties reported during the initial hours varied; while preliminary reports indicated two fatalities and 13 injuries, the Directorate of Health in the…

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s recent interview on Al Jazeera came at an exceptionally sensitive juncture — coinciding with the completion of the process to form the People’s Assembly, the renewed talk of a possible Syrian military intervention in Lebanon, and pressing domestic files, chief among them the Damascus–Deir ez-Zor road incident, which claimed the lives of 35 people. This unfolded…

In a region marked by persistent crises and accelerating transformations-where distinguishing between immediate developments and pivotal historical turning points often becomes increasingly difficult-most changes are portrayed as “strategic” in nature and as possessing the capacity to reshape the region and alter its balance of power. Yet two defining moments in contemporary Arab history since the turn of the millennium continue…

The newly constituted Syrian People’s Assembly enters public life as one of the defining milestones of the country’s transitional period. It marks a moment in which the new authorities are testing the contours of political representation, while Syria itself is testing its capacity to move from the legacy of the revolution toward the project of state-building. The announcement by the…

Islamic circles – or what may be described as the “committed public sphere”[1] – have undergone significant transformations in recent years, particularly amid growing discussions surrounding the “decline” or “waning” of political Islam and the retreat of Salafi movements after the Arab Spring. Yet, despite widespread discourse about the crisis of these currents, this has not necessarily meant the disappearance…

In a notable incident in the Yarmouk Basin area in the western countryside of Daraa Governorate, several residents received emergency warning messages on their mobile phones classified as “maximum severity.” The alerts were delivered in four languages-Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Russian-and were accompanied by audible alarms and automatic phone vibrations, including an automated audio reading of the message’s content. The…

On 6 February 2026, Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports issued a decision restricting the entry of foreign (non-Syrian) trucks into Syrian territory, with a limited exception for transit shipments under customs escort to ensure that cargo is not unloaded inside Syria. In practice, the decision institutionalizes the “Back-to-Back” mechanism, which requires incoming trucks to unload their cargo…

On November 24, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Departments of State and Treasury to initiate a process for assessing the designation of “certain branches of the Muslim Brotherhood” as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and “Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).”The order states that these branches “fuel terrorism, commit, facilitate, or support violence and destabilization campaigns…

The visit of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to Moscow and his meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on October 15, 2025, generated widespread discussion and debate about its underlying motives and political implications. The timing was particularly significant, coming at a critical geopolitical juncture for both Syria and the wider region. The visit coincided with an accelerating Arab and…

Student activism among Jordanian universities represents an important field for understanding social and cultural change among youth. It is a measure of students’ concern for, and response to, intellectual, cultural, national, and pan-Arab issues. Their concern has traditionally been shaped by official and institutional limits—either in the form of student unions, clubs, politically-oriented blocs, registered groups, or activities tolerated by…