We are back with fresh élan and new formats – including restaurant reviews that are both informative and entertaining. In the September issue: ☑️ The old bargain between religion and state lives on: Grand Mufti Hassoun’s life sentence has opened the book on religious co-option. Will anyone turn the page? ☑️ Currency confusion: Syria’s redesigned bank notes have erased two zeroes and the Assads’ portraits. They have also confused locals and foreigners alike ☑️ Who can afford a burger in the new Syria? A restaurant review of Cali in Damascus ☑️ UK support to Syria’s new chapter: Peter McDermott, the outgoing Development Director for Syria at the FCDO, takes stock of the UK’s aid response ☑️ Revolution without reckoning: A review of Aliza Marcus’s book ‘Resurgence & Revolution: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight in Turkey and Syria’ syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Yesterday the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) issued a statement rejecting HTS government demands to disband and asserting its right to participate in Syria's political life. In December 2025 we wrote about the growing rift between the two Islamist groups: the MB, the historic opposition to Ba'thist rule, and HTS, which holds power today. Who will win out? Read the report: syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

"The Autonomous Administration seeks to portray rising prices as a consequence of integration, leaving Damascus solely responsible for the mess now that it has sole control of energy resources. Damascus, meanwhile, seeks to make the opposite case: that the Autonomous Administration’s continued influence is directly responsible for the worsening problems." @shivanibrahim1 on the political exclusion and worsening living conditions that threatens to undermine the transition in the northeast. syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Syria Poll is meant to inform reporting and policy discourse. We’re glad to see it doing just that in this new piece by @AbuJamajem for @ForeignAffairs: “According to polling by the magazine Syria in Transition, 52 percent of Syrians disapproved of their government’s performance in June—up from 44 percent in April. A majority of respondents in both April and June said they struggled to cover their living expenses at least once a month, and in April (the latest month with available data), 66 percent said the government was not doing enough to curb high prices. Between April and June, the number of respondents pessimistic about the country’s trajectory jumped from 30 to 46 percent.” foreignaffairs.com/syria/syr…

Caught between discredited Ba’thist socialism and predatory neoliberalism, Syria needs a new economic vision that people can rally around. The answer is a version of the New Deal, argues @natacha_danon syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

President Ahmad al-Sharaa's rhetoric of pragmatism and reform is designed to flatter Western cultural vanity. He is less a convert than a seasoned tactician: a man who has learned to mirror Western expectations while quietly pursuing his own agenda. It is hardly surprising, then, that within his inner circle he continues to speak of the need to build a large and powerful army and warns of a long struggle ahead.  The Cult of Sharaa the Redeemed [from the SiT archive - November 2025] syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

When Syrian diva Asala Nasri announced a series of concerts in Damascus, religious conservatives were outraged and demanded a ban. But the government stood by her, as did much of the music-listening public. Is this Syria's answer to the 'culture wars'? @hussam_mohammad dissects. syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

I don’t agree with all of the review, but grateful @SyriaTransition took the time to read & write about it. Loved the photo with sticky notes indicating the thought that went into the review! Reviewer: Read my first book, Blood & Belief, where some of what u wanted is dealt with.

Grand Mufti Hassoun’s life sentence has opened the book on religious co-option. Will anyone turn the page? syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Peter McDermott, the outgoing Development Director for Syria at the FCDO, takes stock of the UK’s aid response @UKforSyria syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

The disciplined, austere image that had accompanied HTS’s rise began to fade, replaced by a perception of officials as arrogant, on-the-make, and more interested in putting on a show than getting things done. It did not apply to all, but it applied to enough to shape public perception. Popularity Contest [From the SiT archive - April 2026] syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

As Syria’s education system undergoes reform, attitudes toward discipline reflect changing norms. A majority of 62% say physical punishment in schools is never acceptable. Others express conditional acceptance, with smaller shares saying it is acceptable in some or all circumstances. The question forms part of an upcoming series on educational reform in SiT.

The protests in Syria over fuel price increases come against a backdrop of economic grievances that had already built up over the spring and summer, as our polling suggests. ➖ In April, 66% of respondents said the government was not doing enough to tackle rising prices. ➖ By June, 56% said they struggled to cover basic living expenses at least once a month. ➖ The divide between poorer and richer areas was stark: approval and satisfaction ratings remained solid in better-off areas, while majorities in poorer areas reported both economic hardship and a lack of physical safety. ➖ Government approval fell to 20% in June, while only 25% of respondents said the country was heading in the right direction – down from 63% in February.

For President Sharaa, keeping the base on side is crucial, and It begins with not taking the Sunni majority for granted. Some Sunnis now say that their continued silence in the face of HTS mismanagement is harming the state-building project in Syria, and that, while remaining loyal to the state, they should be allowed to criticise the government. Angry Sunnis [From the SiT archive - July 2025.] syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Informative article about the challenges of transitional justice in post-Assad Syria, and how civil society in Palmyra (Tadmor) is seeking to address the harm caused by Assadists to their communities syriaintransition.com/en/hom… via @SyriaTransition

Syria’s redesigned bank notes have erased two zeroes and the Assads’ portraits. They have also confused locals and foreigners alike syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Aliza Marcus’s latest book offers a useful timeline of events and insightful interviews with PKK figures; but the darker stains remain woven into a compelling liberation narrative instead of being allowed to disrupt it – leaving empty some much-needed space between romanticisation and demonisation. syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Currency confusion: Syria’s redesigned bank notes have erased two zeroes and the Assads’ portraits. They have also confused locals and foreigners alike syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Our September issue for @SyriaTransition is out now. We have a number of interesting pieces this month incl. a look at the new currency, a review of a book on the PKK, & an op-ed by the outgoing development director for Syria at the UK Foreign Office syriaintransition.com/en/hom…

Introducing restaurant reviews at SiT. Our restaurant critic Nadim al-Sufra has an eye for people, an appetite for good food, and opinions about both. Cali Café is out of reach for the majority of Syrians – and it does not pretend otherwise. The restaurant is unapologetically geared towards local families and others who do not look out of place among them. Its Instagram page communicates exclusively in English. While not left with members-only clubs like their counterparts in Aleppo, the elite of Damascus are still trying to maintain strongholds where familiarity can be reserved during yet another period of transition, even if that familiarity now rests on purchasing power. syriaintransition.com/en/hom…