After the Earthquake: Background to the Political Situation in Syria and Turkey

Around 80 million people have been forcibly displaced by war or political violence worldwide. Several million more have fled their homes because of environmental disasters and socio-economic marginalisation. As there is no immediate end in sight to this steadily increasing global trend, forced migration is one of the most pressing challenges facing world politics today. We focus on the background to this phenomenon in our study regions.

To overcome war and violent conflict, building and strengthening institutions for peace is crucial. This includes ones helping to support power-sharing in government, security sector reform, and other key processes. We investigate all these phenomena in our research, while paying equal attention to institutions and processes that may be an impediment to peace too.

Large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East have been very seriously affected by COVID-19, with the states of the Global South showing a wide variety of reactions to its onset and the long-term effects of the pandemic continuing to play out today.

The consequences of ceasefires can be diverse, and are not necessarily positive. In this GIGA Talk, scholars and distinguished practitioners will discuss how research and experience from Syria can provide insights and practical strategies relevant for negotiating ceasefires in Ukraine. Video now online!

A cross-regional comparative analysis of the effects of COVID-19 on violence shows high levels of variation between contexts and in terms of specific armed actors. While Latin America along with the Middle East and North Africa have experienced an overall reduction, violence in sub-Saharan Africa has increased.

The pandemic altered the opportunity structures of state and non-state armed actors, exacerbated grievances, prompted new investments in services provision, and created new spaces for cooperation, thereby affecting the dynamics of violence across different dimensions and time horizons.

As of the end of 2019, the regime under President Bashar al-Assad, along with Russia and Iran, controls almost three-quarters of Syrian territory. Despite ongoing fighting for the last-remaining rebel stronghold of Idlib as well as fragmented territorial control in the north-east, the war in Syria has been decided militarily.

The GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies is one of the leading institutes for Middle East research in Germany and Europe. Our scholars examine topics such as state and regime structures, energy security, violent conflicts, forced migration, Islamist movements, and the reshaping of the regional order.

Around 80 million people have been forcibly displaced by war or political violence worldwide. Several million more have fled their homes because of environmental disasters and socio-economic marginalisation. As there is no immediate end in sight to this steadily increasing global trend, forced migration is one of the most pressing challenges facing world politics today. We focus on the background to this phenomenon in our study regions.

To overcome war and violent conflict, building and strengthening institutions for peace is crucial. This includes ones helping to support power-sharing in government, security sector reform, and other key processes. We investigate all these phenomena in our research, while paying equal attention to institutions and processes that may be an impediment to peace too.

Large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East have been very seriously affected by COVID-19, with the states of the Global South showing a wide variety of reactions to its onset and the long-term effects of the pandemic continuing to play out today.