Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa's White House meeting with Donald Trump followed the removal of his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the list of designated "terrorist organizations" both at the State Department and at the UN. It also coincided with raids against ISIS by his security forces, raising the prospect of his government being invited to join the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The Washington visit also came just a month after al-Sharaa's similar trip to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where a deal was brokered allowing Russia to keep its military bases in Syria. Amid all this, Syria continues to see forced disappearances and other abuses targetting Druze, Alawites and Kurds—pointing to the looming threat of an ethnic or sectarian internal war. The US troop presence in Syria is largely embedded among the Kurdish forces in the east. As al-Sharaa becomes a new "anti-terrorist" partner (or proxy) for the Great Powers, will these troops be withdrawn—providing a "green light" for the Damascus government to attack the Kurdish autonomous zone? In Episode 305 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg weighs the risks at this critical moment in Syria's transition process, nearly one year after the fall of the Assad dictatorship.

The recent political reversal in Bolivia raises the question of whether the advances of nearly 20 years of rule by the indigenist left will survive—including a constitution that refounded the state as a "plurinational" republic. In Episode 299 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg explores how the lessons of the Bolivian experience can be applied to Syria, where the new revolutionary government faces a challenge in Kurdish and Druze demands for regional autonomy.

Syria, Jordan and the United States on Sept. 16 jointly announced a "roadmap" to resolve the ongoing crisis in the southern Syrian province of as-Suwayda, where July clashes between Druze and Bedouin forces escalated to sectarian killings and mass displacement. The plan seeks to strengthen a fragile ceasefire, let UN investigators look into the July events while holding perpetrators accountable under Syrian law, allow aid deliveries, and facilitate the return of some 160,000 people who remain displaced. However, some Druze leaders have rejected the plan. Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri ruled out negotiations with the government, adding: "I thanked Israel because it defended us and provided us with protection." His followers have announced the creation of a "National Guard" for as-Suwayda region, which according to regional media reports has received thousands of light arms from Israel. (TNH, TNA, YNet)

UN human rights experts expressed deep concern Aug. 21 over continuing violence against the Druze population in the Suwayda region of Syria. Since the outbreak of fighting in mid-July, the UN experts said they have received reports of "killings, enforced disappearances, abductions, looting, destruction of property, and sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls." The experts especially emphasized the prevalence of gender-based attacks, reporting that an estimated 105 Druze women and girls have been abducted by armed groups in connection with the Syrian interim authorities.

Several United Nations agencies on July 28 condemned the use of starvation as a weapon of war, as malnutrition rates in Gaza spike under Israeli siege. During the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Secretary-General António Guterres stressed: "Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war."

Guterres' statement follows Israel's decision to permit a one-week scale-up of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. UN agencies welcomed the easing of aid restrictions and so-called "humanitarian pauses" in the ongoing bombardment; however, as emphasized by UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher: "This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis."

The investigation by the Syrian transition government into the March violence against the Alawites in Latakia province has been submitted—but the full findings have not been made public, and it apparently exonerates the government of involvement. Meanwhile southern Suwayda province has seen a perhaps even deadlier eruption of violence—this time pitting Druze against Bedouin, with the role of the government similarly the source of much contestation (and fodder for Internet partisans). And a Damascus protest against the violence and for co-existence was attacked by goons. Amid all this, Israel is militarily intervening, the government looks to Turkey for military aid, and both the US and Russia still have forces on the ground—treating the country as a Great Power chessboard. In Episode 288 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg argues that the Syrian Revolution is poised on a razor's edge, ready to descend into ethno-sectarian war and authoritarianism unless political space can be kept open for the secular-democratic civil resistance that began the revolution 14 years ago.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on July 21 called upon the Jordanian government to immediately reverse a policy that mandates displacing a Bedouin community from the Petra area, a UN-recognized World Heritage Site, through forcible evictions. Human Rights Watch deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adam Coogle, stated:

Jordan can't claim to protect Petra's living heritage while sidelining the community that embodies it. It should work, together with UNESCO, to uphold the rights of the Bedul and ensure their full participation in the shaping of the future of the site they've called home for generations.

According to the report, the government is forcibly evicting the Bedul, one of several Bedouin communities living in the Petra area in the southern part of Jordan. In targeting the community for eviction, Jordanian authorities are violating their economic, social, and cultural rights, and their rights to housing.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) on July 20 called on the Syrian government to hold accountable those who attacked peaceful protesters in front of the country's legislature in Damascus two days earlier. The protest had been convened to oppose the escalating violence in the southern province of Suwayda, and to demand the protection of minorities and the promotion of civil peace in the country.