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When news of Bashar al-Assad’s downfall broke last year, Syrians around the world rejoiced – the dream of returning home, of ending a decade in exile, was suddenly within reach.
But how do you uproot yourself and your family after all those years of rebuilding a life? How do you explain the return to your youngest child, who may have only known life outside Syria? What will be the cost of this new start? And what kind of life waits on the other side of the border?
In our latest long read, two experts in humanitarian aid speak to Syrians displaced to the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, to find out why so many are choosing to remain in exile – for now.
We also examine the corruption issue behind the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, a leading opponent of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which has brought many people onto the streets in protest at what they see as an attack on democracy. An expert in Turkey’s informal economy explains how, under Erdoğan, the country’s anti-corruption efforts have become highly politicized.
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Young boys play volleyball at an NGO centre in Zaatari camp, Jordan, in 2016.
Melissa Gatter
Charlotte Al-Khalili, University of Sussex; Melissa Gatter, University of Sussex
Syrian refugees must be able to decide what’s next for them as pressures mount for their return.
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EPA-EFE/Erdem Sahin
Tulin Dzhengiz, Manchester Metropolitan University
In targeting a political rival for corruption, the Erdoğan government is widely seen as distorting the rule of law in Turkey in his supporters’ favour.
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Great power rivalry: Donald Trump meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing for trade talks, January 2017.
EPA-EFE/Roman Pilipey
Maria Ryan, University of Nottingham
Competition over the Panama Canal shows how US-Chinese rivalry is hotting up.
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The CEOs of Meta, Amazon, Google and X – Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk – attend the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.
Photo by Ricky Carioti - Pool/Getty Images
Yasmin Curzi de Mendonça, University of Virginia; Camille Grenier, Sciences Po
Trump Media and Rumble joining X in legal fight against the Brazilian Supreme Court marks a new era of deregulation pushes.
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Jackson K Njau, Indiana University
By 1.5 million years ago, Homo erectus was able to transfer tool-making skills from stone to bone.
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Gabrielle Principe, College of Charleston
Sigmund Freud originally developed the idea of repression and actually revised his definition later in life.
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Frank A. Blazich Jr., Smithsonian Institution
Trump wants Ukraine to repay the US for the military aid it sent Kyiv. Once upon a time, the US was more generous: It rebuilt Western Europe after World War II.
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Ralph Hertwig, Max Planck Institute for Human Development; Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol
We tend to underestimate the threat of rare events but we can prime ourselves to be more alert to the signs.
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Martin Connors, Athabasca University
Asteroids’ orbits around the sun may put them in collision paths with inner planets. We may have had a near-miss, but asteroids can pass by the Earth undetected.
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Akhil Bhardwaj, University of Bath
Understanding its limitations can help you decide when the human touch might be better.
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Dafydd Townley, University of Portsmouth
In the 1930s a group sprang up in North America that wanted to merge the US with Canada. Elon Musk’s grandfather was a significant figure.
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