Reinoud Leenders
@leendersreinoud.bsky.social
Reader in International Politics and Middle East Studies, King's College London, Department of War Studies. https://www.reinoudleenders.org All views expressed are my own.
Brussels, today. Stop the genocide in Gaza. Those who like demos and don’t like genocide say 80,000 people. Those who don’t like demos and don’t mind genocide say 20,000.
May 11, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Brussels, today. Stop the genocide in Gaza. Those who like demos and don’t like genocide say 80,000 people. Those who don’t like demos and don’t mind genocide say 20,000.
After years of verbal violence defending and denying Syrian regime atrocities and mass destruction, diplomat wants his two houses back citing sacrosanctity of property rights. 🧅?
April 22, 2025 at 7:59 AM
After years of verbal violence defending and denying Syrian regime atrocities and mass destruction, diplomat wants his two houses back citing sacrosanctity of property rights. 🧅?
Syria's 'provisional' government creates a 'higher committee' to patch up relations with the predominantly Alawite coastal region. I am not sure the last few days' mayhem can be so easily buried in a committee. But wait for this: 1/
March 9, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Syria's 'provisional' government creates a 'higher committee' to patch up relations with the predominantly Alawite coastal region. I am not sure the last few days' mayhem can be so easily buried in a committee. But wait for this: 1/
Worth a re-read I suppose.
February 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Worth a re-read I suppose.
What's this with autocrats' shared aesthetic preferences wherever they pop up (and stick around)? 🎖️
January 31, 2025 at 4:19 PM
What's this with autocrats' shared aesthetic preferences wherever they pop up (and stick around)? 🎖️
Hama 1982 massacre commemoration. As Ali Aljasem and I write in a forthcoming POMEPS paper "While for older generations of Syrians the regime’s violence in Hama in 1982 is remembered as the “original sin” of Syria’s dictatorship, for many younger Syrians this is what the events of 2011-12 signify."
January 31, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Hama 1982 massacre commemoration. As Ali Aljasem and I write in a forthcoming POMEPS paper "While for older generations of Syrians the regime’s violence in Hama in 1982 is remembered as the “original sin” of Syria’s dictatorship, for many younger Syrians this is what the events of 2011-12 signify."
Hopes are up for Syria's transition to pluralist, non-military, all-inclusive rule.
January 31, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Hopes are up for Syria's transition to pluralist, non-military, all-inclusive rule.
A short comment I wrote for Middle East Report on the intricacies of lifting sanctions on Syria. www.facebook.com/reinoud.leen...
December 18, 2024 at 2:00 PM
A short comment I wrote for Middle East Report on the intricacies of lifting sanctions on Syria. www.facebook.com/reinoud.leen...
This is a powerful post by someone who knew Mazen al-Hamadeh well. It is a story about Mazen’s passion for justice and about those turning their backs to empathy and solidarity. www.instagram.com/p/DDY-yLiIp9...
December 13, 2024 at 8:48 PM
This is a powerful post by someone who knew Mazen al-Hamadeh well. It is a story about Mazen’s passion for justice and about those turning their backs to empathy and solidarity. www.instagram.com/p/DDY-yLiIp9...
Thus far the much feared explosion of violence post-Assad has come from mass Israeli bombing.
December 10, 2024 at 7:48 PM
Thus far the much feared explosion of violence post-Assad has come from mass Israeli bombing.
Reports and gruesome pictures on X suggest that the body of Mazen al-Hamadeh was found in Sednaya prison. I feel so sad and angry at how the Dutch authorities let him down to the extent he went back to Syria. He should get a statue in Amsterdam and a square named after him.
December 9, 2024 at 9:39 PM
Reports and gruesome pictures on X suggest that the body of Mazen al-Hamadeh was found in Sednaya prison. I feel so sad and angry at how the Dutch authorities let him down to the extent he went back to Syria. He should get a statue in Amsterdam and a square named after him.
New entry in the Dictator’s Handbook: if you want to avoid scenes like these of fallen statues, better stop making them.
December 8, 2024 at 10:34 AM
New entry in the Dictator’s Handbook: if you want to avoid scenes like these of fallen statues, better stop making them.
Artwork by Hani Abbas: “The first time the sun rises at night.”
December 8, 2024 at 9:58 AM
Artwork by Hani Abbas: “The first time the sun rises at night.”
Kind request to Syria pundits to stay away from: 1) ‘I have clearly seen this all coming’ in some genious act of retroactive prediction; 2) banging on about impending chaos without showing some empathy with Syrians now glad to see the back of Bashar; 3) ‘how to make this about me’ framing. 🙏
December 7, 2024 at 7:14 PM
Kind request to Syria pundits to stay away from: 1) ‘I have clearly seen this all coming’ in some genious act of retroactive prediction; 2) banging on about impending chaos without showing some empathy with Syrians now glad to see the back of Bashar; 3) ‘how to make this about me’ framing. 🙏
Keep an eye on this: land grabs at Israel’s borders for eternal ‘security zones’ on steroids.
December 7, 2024 at 5:08 PM
Keep an eye on this: land grabs at Israel’s borders for eternal ‘security zones’ on steroids.
I guess Trump will have to add this disclaimer to nearly all countries he is going to talk about: ‘but is not our friend.’
December 7, 2024 at 5:05 PM
I guess Trump will have to add this disclaimer to nearly all countries he is going to talk about: ‘but is not our friend.’
When will we see the first footage of Captagon farms seized by the rebels?
December 7, 2024 at 11:36 AM
When will we see the first footage of Captagon farms seized by the rebels?
Rebels take over Suheil al-Hassan's 25th "special forces' Division in Hama. One of the regime's few serious fighting forces, one may wonder what they are up to.
December 6, 2024 at 4:47 PM
Rebels take over Suheil al-Hassan's 25th "special forces' Division in Hama. One of the regime's few serious fighting forces, one may wonder what they are up to.
MBS, MBZ, Iran and the Hashd all seem to be taking their time to get concessions from Bashar but will ultimately come to his rescue. The only but still convincing argument Bashar still has seems to be the prospect of HTS in power and a day of reckoning. (cartoon: Chappatte / New York Times)
December 5, 2024 at 10:44 AM
MBS, MBZ, Iran and the Hashd all seem to be taking their time to get concessions from Bashar but will ultimately come to his rescue. The only but still convincing argument Bashar still has seems to be the prospect of HTS in power and a day of reckoning. (cartoon: Chappatte / New York Times)
HTS asks regime soldiers to give them a call if they need assistance to defect. Signed “Syrian Center for safety and defection”
November 30, 2024 at 10:17 PM
HTS asks regime soldiers to give them a call if they need assistance to defect. Signed “Syrian Center for safety and defection”