The visit of the Syrian foreign and defense ministers to Moscow on Thursday, July 31, and their meeting with the Russian foreign and defense ministers, followed by the Syrian foreign minister’s meeting with the Russian president, marked a significant turning point in the course of events in Syria following Assad’s flight. It could even be said that it was an unexpected surprise for many.

The idea of a “General National Conference” is gaining ever-greater consensus within various Syrian circles. This is both natural and expected given Syrians’ commitment to their country, its unity, and its civil peace. This comes amid escalating threats, sectarian incitement, and the horrific bloody events in various parts of the country, most recently in the Syrian province of Sweida. This has yet to reach a clear or stable conclusion and remains dangerous and susceptible to slipping into even greater danger.

The fire raging in the Syrian province of Sweida has subsided, after its flames had burned the hearts of all Syrians, leaving behind more blood, pain, and tragedies. Although this fire has subsided, it has not yet been completely extinguished; like the fires lurking under the ashes throughout the country, as a result of problems and crises accumulated over decades, especially during the past 14 years, none of which have yet been addressed in a wise, serious, genuine, and responsible manner.

The media landscape is filled with news, statements, and analyses about US efforts to broker an agreement between the “Israeli” entity and the current Syrian government. Hebrew media, along with some Arab and international media outlets revolving in the same orbit, are striving to portray the matter as if an agreement has indeed been reached, with only a few “minor details” remaining, e.g., fate of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

There is hardly any disagreement among Syrians about the major political imperatives facing the country. Foremost among these imperatives are the unity of the country’s territory and people; its sovereignty and civil peace; genuine transitional justice, not vindictive, retributive, or selective, allowing for redress for past harms and is based on an examination of the underlying causes to prevent their recurrence. The imperatives also include a unified national army that ends the faction-based divide and is built on competence and a comprehensive national identity that views all Syrians as equal citizens, and its mission is to defend Syrians against external aggression and uphold the constitution, which in turn must protect the freedom of Syrians in its political, social, and cultural dimensions.

As soon as the ceasefire between the Zionist entity and Iran went into effect, the American and “Israeli” media and political machine began aggressively promoting forthcoming normalization agreements with “several countries in the region”. Over the past two days, a number of “Israeli” newspapers and websites have published what they called “leaks” about supposed agreements to be signed with Syria, pursuant to which Syria would relinquish the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, not to mention the volume of rumors circulating online.

The well-known objective law continues to operate: War is the iron lung through which capitalism breathes, and the deeper its crises become, the more it expands the scope of war. In today’s world, after the Western center lost the vast majority of real production processes and retains the dollar financial center and dominance of international institutions due to the inertia of the past, war has become its sole and most important tool. The entirety of the Western center has become an iron lung of war, with nothing left to offer the planet but wars, destruction, and sanctions.

On Friday, June 13, 2025, and with blatant American complicity, “Israel” launched an unprecedented, large-scale aggression against Iran, despite ongoing negotiations on the Iranian nuclear file. Numerous countries around the world and in our region condemned this aggression, most notably the clear and justified condemnations issued by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, along with condemnations from all Arab countries.

In its last editorial, Kassioun intensively demonstrated its vision on “how to win the war on poverty”, setting out six programmatic points that cannot be overlooked if there is a genuine will to end poverty in Syria. Here, we address a fundamental aspect of the “war on poverty”, which is the “war on corruption”.

The current authorities, represented by Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, raised the slogan “War on Poverty” a few days ago. This is a justified and ambitious slogan, one that resonates with the desires of more than 90% of Syrians who have lived below the poverty line for years.