Syria: ruthless business as usual
The joint US-UK-French strikes on chemicals targets in Syria won’t affect the war—but they could damage Trump's image in the region
The Gulf Cooperation Council states applauded when the authorities in Washington, London and Paris agreed on coordinated air and missiles strikes on Syria. But the applause was polite rather than enthusiastic. For while there was relief that the three Western nations had taken military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime, there was disappointment that the strikes were merely a very limited, one-off operation. This was underlined by Donald Trump's "Mission accomplished" Tweet, barely hours after the action was over. In other words, the attacks on the alleged chemicals weapons sites didn't reassure these countries that the American president and his allies have come up with any longer-te

Also in this section
24 June 2025
The country’s latest licensing round attracted bids from IOCs and NOCs in a better showing than its last outreach to bidders
24 June 2025
Africa’s second-largest oil producer is creating the right conditions for the sector to try to boost output, explains Ian Cloke, COO of UK-based Afentra
24 June 2025
The takeover, if it gets the all-clear from regulators and other government authorities, would propel XRG and its parent firm ADNOC into the top tier of global LNG players
23 June 2025
Jet fuel will play crucial role in oil consumption growth even with efficiency gains and environmental curbs, with geopolitical risks highlighting importance of plentiful stocks