The Debate

Three months on, could Syria slide back into civil war? In the Alawite bastion of ousted president Bashar al-Assad, the bloodiest week in years with attacks and revenge killings of civilians that the new masters of Damascus are scrambling to contain. Why did the Mediterranean coast region erupt? What triggered it?

And what’s the next move by new strongman Ahmed al-Sharaa? The jihadist militia leader who’s traded in his fatigues for a suit and promised the outside world justice and respect for minority rights. Enough for the West to begin a desperately-needed easing of sanctions. Have the likes of the European Union moved too slowly or too fast?

And how will al-Sharaa navigate between his own alliance of forces that include Turkey-backed militias which contributed to the overthrow of Assad but could pose a threat to the central authority in Damascus, the US-backed Kurds who want federalism, and the Russians who want to keep their Mediterranean bases? Not to mention Israel, which rejected overtures of détente and for the moment occupies more land in the Golan Heights

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Ukraine’s allies have plenty of troops and hardware. But how battle ready are they? And is it enough to deter Putin’s Russia? Brussels is hosting an emergency summit with Volodymyr Zelensky attending as the Trump administration halts support for Ukraine. The sense of urgency is also illustrated by Germany reaching a deal to revise its constitution so it can ensure its security without US protection. But how far can Europeans go, including the British, if their US-made equipment can’t operate without Washington’s approval or in some cases without its intelligence.   

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip. 

Can Europeans and Americans still speak of shared values? The longest-ever speech by a US president to a joint session of Congress doubling down on an America First vision of foreign policy that's heavy on the sticks, light on the carrots. In the past, critics of the US dismissed talks of exporting democracy by pointing to Vietnam, Latin America and Iraq, but the US has also put its might behind international institutions to broker peace and set up norms for doing business that the whole world could trust. 

Globalisation without a US backstop has consequences. Has the US become a nationalist illiberal democracy or does it all return to normal when next year’s midterm elections roll around?

Europe finds itself having to rewrite its entire security architecture on the fly. Here you see Emmanuel Macron trying to convince one of Donald Trump’s European allies, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, ahead of an EU summit that’s facing the sudden end of the post-1945 order. How did allies not see this moment coming?

 

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

It’s a volatile world these days. While Europe wonders if it’s just lost its US security umbrella, while a Gaza ceasefire hangs by a thread, while Syria figures out how to hold it together after the fall of Assad, major regional player Turkey looks to get its own house in order with the announced dissolution of a 40-year-old Kurdish insurgency. Why did Recep Tayyip Erdogan and imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan agree to open a path to peace? And why now? 

Will it work this time? The pair have tried and failed before to bury the hatchet.

We discuss the cross-border consequences in Iraq, where many guerrillas have their base, and in Syria, where Ankara-backed militias are openly fighting Syrian YPG Kurdish fighters, the secular Syrian Kurds who as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have the backing of US troops as they take on the remnants of the Islamic State group.

On that score, will that support from Washington continue? With Iran in retreat and Russia elsewhere occupied, how does the Trump administration see its role?

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Ilayda Habib and Aurore Laborie. 

The image of King Charles III welcoming Volodymyr Zelensky to Sandringham evokes memories of his grandfather, George VI, standing firm as Britain held the line before the United States entered the war. Since then, Europe has relied on Washington's security umbrella. But that era may be coming to an end. Last Friday, Ukraine's president was caught off guard on live television, confronted with rhetoric strikingly similar to Kremlin talking points that shifted blame for the war onto Kyiv and NATO. What was supposed to be a solemn debrief of PM Keir Starmer's visit to Washington instead turned into an urgent strategy session in London. If NATO's future is in doubt, is Europe truly prepared to defend itself? And with Trump appearing to align himself with Putin, is the continent now closer than ever to direct confrontation with Russia?

Read more'We should have woken up earlier': Europe races to rearm as old alliances falter

Produced by François Picard, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

Whispering in Donald Trump's ear is no easy task: just ask Emmanuel Macron. Despite Monday's "broshakes", flattery and mild reproaches, the US still sided with Russia and North Korea on Ukraine at the UN. Maybe one meeting wasn’t enough. Now it's Keir Starmer's turn, and his job might be even tougher. Trump prefers presidents and kings, and post-Brexit Britain is in a tighter financial bind than even deficit-happy France. In a sign of the times, the British prime minister is proposing to fund increased defence spending by cutting international aid.

Keir Starmer is taking a sober approach, stressing that a US backstop remains crucial for European defence. But do citizens on either side of the Channel have the appetite to pay more for security amid warming ties between Trump and Putin? And how will the next visitor to the Oval Office fare? 

That will be Volodymyr Zelensky, who the US has told to sign on the dotted line for a minerals deal with Washington on Friday. What exactly the Ukrainian president will get in exchange remains unclear.

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

Can Syria keep its promises? After the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December, the new rulers of Damascus are convening a one-day national dialogue conference. On paper, the outcomes sound promising: transitional justice, inclusive democracy and the disarmament of the country’s numerous militias in favour of a unified national army. In practice, it’s far more complicated. The US-backed Syrian Kurds in the north feel excluded and have no intention of surrendering their weapons while they continue to fight both IS group remnants and Turkey-backed militias. 

Integrating them, while also building trust with the Islamist-led factions that brought Ahmed al-Shaara to power, won’t happen overnight. 

We explore how this can be achieved and how far the West is willing to go, now that the EU has lifted sanctions. With Israel's ongoing air strikes and its demands for Syria’s military to retreat from the Golan Heights, how can the international community support lasting stability and peace in a country that desperately seeks it?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

Amid armed conflicts, a climate emergency and the disruptions of the digital age, now comes another layer of uncertainty to worry about. Since Monday, nightly rosary prayers have been taking place in Saint Peter's Square as pilgrims pray for an 88-year old pope who's in hospital for the fourth time. We ask about Francis's health and what change at the top would mean inside the world's largest religious institution, one that doubles as a state recognised by 177 nations.

The first Argentinian pope has championed the rights of migrants and minorities, most recently even publicly clashing with a new US vice president who's a convert to Catholicism. Will Francis's successor be a reformer or a conservative?

More broadly, can 1.7 billion faithful find common ground in an age where bitter culture wars go beyond any one religion? How does the Catholic Church evolve? What lies ahead?

Produced by Rebecca Grignati, Ilayda Habib, Elisa Amiri and Aurore Laborie. 

There's no hitting the snooze button on this wake-up call. Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting is savouring victory in Sunday’s federal elections while taking stock of what he faces: with the Putin and Trump-backed far right finishing a strong second, Friedrich Merz is stating that his country and continent can no longer rely on the United States for their defence.

Merz is stepping out of the shadow of the woman who in a previous life beat him to the CDU's leadership. Back in her day, Angela Merkel tried the soft touch on both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. We ask what's changed since.

On the third anniversary of Putin's all-out invasion of Ukraine, the French president is in Washington for one last try at keeping the US on side, while leading the push for European strategic autonomy. Are we at a turning point for European defence?

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Sunday's crunch elections in Germany are coming at perhaps the most pivotal moment since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Back then, it was about making a success of reunification. Now comes a reckoning over the German model that ensued. Under threat is the kind of global free trade that powers Germany's export-driven economy. Instead we're seeing Donald Trump's tariffs, a Russian aggression that's inching closer in not-so-far-off Ukraine and an ageing population that needs to replenish its workforce, but doesn't want more migrants.

Seizing on the mood of a nation in recession is the far-right AfD, which polls suggest could finish second behind the Christian Democrats. With the US vice president last Friday passing up a chance to meet the incumbent centre-left chancellor Olaf Scholz, instead seeing AfD leader Alice Weidel on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, voters are wondering if the usual warnings of foreign election meddling concern this time the United States more than usual suspect Russia.

The pressure is on in a nation where lead candidates know they that can't bash their rivals too hard. After all, they know that come Monday morning when the ballots are counted, they might have to call them for coalition-building. Could this election be different? If so, how?

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Watch moreA model in crisis: Germans head to polls amid economic downturn