Several rounds of peace talks on the Syrian Civil War have taken place in Astana, Kazakhstan. Here, TeachMideast provides background information and context to better understand the purpose and outcomes of these negotiations.   1. What has been the focus of these talks?  The Arab Spring protests in Syria led to the current Syrian Civil […]

Journalist and comedian, Dean Obeidallah, reaches beyond the headlines detailing the horrific treatment by the Islamic State of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. Here he discusses the Islamic State's impact on fellow Muslims in response to a September report drafted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the [...]

Presiding over his final United Nations General Assembly meeting at the UN headquarters in New York in September this past year, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon harshly admonished states who have contributed to humanitarian suffering in Syria, specifically referencing the Monday air strike on a United Nations humanitarian aid convoy bound for hard-hit and largely inaccessible […]

Important Questions and Answers about the Syrian Refugee Crisis for Educators Migrants in Bregana, Croatia, near the border with Slovenia. Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times. Sept 20, 2015. What led to the crisis? In 2011, Syrian security forces began responding to peaceful protests against the repressive Bashar Al-Assad regime with violence and [...]