Can Israel preserve the Druze Mountains?
On July 16, 2025, the Syrian army left the city of Sweida, as well as every other piece of land it controlled within that region, having held them for just two days. This was due [...]
Geography of the Alawites Massacre
The early-March 2025 massacres against the Alawites caused the deaths of thousands of people. Analyzing these events helps to understand the motivations of their perpetrators and the sequence of operations. Published in French in Revue [...]
Syria’s Islamist leader wants to make example of Alawites
The wave of sectarian violence that gripped Syria last week has marred the image of the country's new Islamist president, Ahmad al-Sharaa. Could the government have done more to prevent it? French academic Fabrice Balanche [...]
Rebuilding Syria May Require Federalism
The original article is published by The Washington Institute by Fabrice Balanche, Feb 28, 2025 If Sharaa wants to avoid repeating Assad’s mistakes, he may have to genuinely decentralize political power and establish a federal system, [...]
Syrian Mosaïc : End of the Kurdish Statelet?
The various Islamist and jihadist factions that overthrew Bashar al-Assad were united by their hatred of the Baathist regime. Now, they need another enemy to maintain their semblance of unity: the Kurds. Anti-Kurdish racism is [...]
Homs resists, Damascus besieged, the SDF cuts the Iranian axis
The city of Homs is resisting the assault of the jihadists who are blocked by the defense line established on the northern ring road. To break it, they could use suicide bombers like in Aleppo. [...]
The Syrian mosaic : Aleppo and Hama under jihadist control
After Aleppo, it is Hama's turn to fall into the hands of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The Syrian army, despite the support of the Russian air force, preferred to withdraw from a city that is naturally [...]
Fabrice Balanche, winner of the 11th edition of the Geopolitics Book Prize
On June 26, 2024, I had the honor of receiving the geopolitical book prize for my latest work: Lessons from the Syrian crisis. Jean-Louis Bourlanges, the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National [...]
Assad does not want the majority of Syrian migrants to return
Article published in L'Orient le Jour, 25 April 2024 by Jeanine Jalkh Fabrice Balanche, a lecturer at Lyon II University and expert on Syria, spoke to L’Orient-Le Jour about Syrian migrants in Lebanon, a topic explored in [...]
The destruction of Israel is Iran’s ultimate goal
After the destruction of its consulate in Damascus, on April 1, Iran will retaliate against Israel. What will be the nature of Iranian retaliation? Iran does not want a direct confrontation against the Hebrew state [...]