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What Syria, Iraq and Turkey reveal about the scale of the global energy shock
On 14 September, Syria saw its largest protests since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Demonstrators burned tyres, blocked the Damascus-Aleppo highway and stopped fuel tankers after the government raised…
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Arivan
Iraq’s 75% Oil Rebound in August Cost $2 Billion in Discounts
SOMO’s August tables show 73.7 million barrels exported, the strongest month since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in February. Almost all of it went south through the strait. The…
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Arivan
Baghdad Drops Disarmament for Reorganisation as Iran Opens Hormuz to Iraqi Crude
Iraq’s oil exports have risen sharply over the past month even though the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily restricted. Exports rose from around 1.35 million barrels per day in July…
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Arivan
The PKK Is Rebuilding Its Media as a Civilian Political Network
The PKK-aligned movement has spent the past eighteen months restructuring its media network around audiences and languages rather than around the armed struggle. The latest step came in August 2026,…
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Arivan
Damascus Moves From Nominal to Physical Security Control in Hasakah
New on the SDF-Damascus integration agreement: Yesterday and today, a sizable number of Damascus-linked Syrian Interior and Defence Ministry personnel entered Hasakah city in preparation for taking over the city’s…
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Arivan
Why PJAK Remains Armed While the PKK’s Other Fronts Close
On 25 August, Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, announced from the People’s Palace in Damascus that the SDF had ended its mission and dissolved as an independent…
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Arivan
Why Syria’s Political Geography Looks Nothing Like Iraq’s
Comparisons between Syria and Iraq usually start from a shared premise: that both are weak states trying to govern populations divided among large ethnic and religious communities. The demographic and…
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Arivan
SDF Dissolution and the Final Integration Deal: What Damascus Gained and What Remains Unclear
On the latest SDF-Damascus integration agreement:
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Arivan
Iraq’s Oil Is Flowing Again. Its Budget Gap Is Not Closing.
Before the Iran war, which started on February 28, Iraq earned roughly $6.5 to $6.8 billion a month from crude, exporting 107.6 million barrels in January and 99.9 million in…
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Arivan
Why Was KRG PM Masrour Barzani’s Office Targeted?
The attack on Masrour Barzani’s office on August 17th and a resting house belonging to one of the KDP’s key intelligence officials was likely connected to the ongoing Iraqi-Iranian negotiations…
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