Name: Syria faces enormous challenges by Mideastsoccer
Duration: 8 min 35 s
Description: James M. Dorsey discusses on Radio Islam International the enormous challenges Syria confronts in the wake of the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad.

“If Assad doesn’t have a force that’s willing to stand up for him, what are the Russians and Iranians going to do?”
Dr. James Dorsey explains on the John Fredericks Show how the fall of Assad’s regime in Syria is a significant blow to Russia and Iran’s presence in the region.

James M Dorsey The Fall Of Syria JFRadio 9 Dec 2024

On this edition of Parallax Views, Bashar al-Assad has fled Syria as the country's rebels have taken over the capital, Damascus. Assad has been President of Syria since 2000. His toppling at the hands of Syrian rebels, most notably Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham led by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, represents a historic moment both for Syria, which has been ravaged by a civil war since March 2011, and the wider Middle East. What does this mean for all the various players in the region such as Iran, Turkey, the U.S., Russia, the Kurds, Islamic State, and, perhaps most importantly, Syria itself? In order to answer some of these questions, journalist, scholar, and frequent Parallax Views guest James M. Dorsey returned to the program to unpack this historic moment. We'll discuss the potential scenarios for Syria's future, the question of HTS and its relationship to ultra-conservative Sunni Islam, jihadism, the winners and losers in this moment of Syria's history, the Syrian Civil War, Obama's record in Syria, U.S. President-elect Trump's comments that the U.S. should not get involved in Syria going forward, and much, much more!

Assad Toppled by Syrian Rebels in a Tectonic Shift for the Middle East w_ James Dorsey

Ahmed al Shara, aka Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, would like you to think he is a changed man.

Will the real Mr. Jolani stand up

Saudi Arabia has been awarded the men's 2034 World Cup.

It will be the crowning event in its sport spending spree, having already reportedly invested £5bn since 2021, as it tries to diversify away from oil.

Niall Paterson is joined by Sky News' Rob Harris and Middle East football expert James M Dorsey to discuss what it means for football and the kingdom.

The plans are not lacking in ambition and include a new stadium 350m above ground level, in an as-yet unbuilt futuristic carless city.

But big questions remain about how the country landed the cup, with its bid unopposed and the country consistently facing claims of human rights abuses

How did Saudi Arabia land the 2034 World Cup_SkyNews 12122024

Saudi Arabia has been awarded the men's 2034 World Cup.   
  
It will be the crowning event in the kingdom’s sport spending spree, having already reportedly invested USD6.3 billion since 2021, as it tries to diversify away from oil. 

James M. Dorsey discusses FIFA’s awarding of the World Cup to Saudi Arabia with Steve Lai on the BBC.


Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup -- JMD on the BBC

Policymakers in Tehran and Moscow are asking who lost Syria in a tectonic rewrite of the Middle East’s geopolitical map that has ousted President Bashar al-Assad ‘s principal backers struggling to limit their losses.

Picking up the pieces-Russia and Iran seek to limit losses in Syria

Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, aka Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, appears to be a man who picks his battles.

Syria may be tired of war, but war may not be tired of Syria

This event, as part of the LSE Middle East Centre's Kurdish Studies Series, discussed the online exhibition and research project 'Bridging Identities: The Cultural Odyssey of Kurdistani Jews' exploring the identity and heritage of Kurdistani Jews.

The stories in this research project shed light on this community's past through the lens of their memories and nostalgic ties to the homeland they left behind as they migrated to Israel/Palestine, and reveal if and how the markers of Kurdishness are transmitted to generations next.

Meet the speakers

Bahar Baser is Professor in Politics and International Relations at Durham University. Bahar is an expert in the area of diaspora studies, peacebuilding and conflict transformation, with a regional focus on the Middle East. She has conducted extensive research on diaspora engagement in peace processes, post-conflict reconstruction and state-building in the Global South. 

Duygu Atlas is part of the research team of the 'Bridging Identities' project. She is a historian and documentary maker and completed her doctoral studies at Tel Aviv University's School of History in 2019, with her dissertation titled 'Turkey’s Jewish Minority between Turkey and Israel from 1948 to the 1990s: Israel’s Impact on a Diaspora Community and its Identity Formation'.

Mesut Alp is part of the research team of the 'Bridging Identities' project. He is a photographer and documentary maker, and is also a graduate of Ege University's Department of Near Eastern Archaeology. 

Moayed Assaf is part of the research team of the 'Bridging Identities' project. He is a Kurdish academic and photographer. 

https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/events/2024/bridging-identities-cultural-odyssey-kurdistani-jews

Bridging Identities: The Cultural Odyssey of Kurdistani Jews

US and Israeli responses to President Bashar al-Assad’s fall offer a masterclass on how to discourage change in Syria.
Rather than test and encourage Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, aka Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, US and Israeli actions seem designed to box him in and potentially set him up for failure.


A US-Israeli masterclass in how to discourage change in Syria

James M. Dorsey discusses on Radio Islam International the enormous challenges Syria confronts in the wake of the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria faces enormous challenges

Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and co-host of the New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast. James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a book with the same title as well as Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-authored with Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario and  Shifting Sands, Essays on Sports and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa.

Syria faces enormous challenges

Mideastsoccer

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