Alexander McKeever

this can't be good

This Week in Northern Syria [9.2026] February 25 - March 3: New details on SDF military integration, Kobani security integration advances & gov't district official named, and more...

This week's issue covers the latest integration steps in Kobani and Hasakah, SDF to join Division 60, al-Houl update, IS activity, demonstrations demanding prisoner releases, rejecting SDF return to former areas, rejecting Raqqah electoral body...

akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

This Week in Northern Syria [9.2026] February 25 - March 3: New details on SDF military integration, Kobani security integration advances & gov't district official named, and more...

This week's issue covers the latest integration steps in Kobani and Hasakah, SDF to join Division 60, al-Houl update, IS activity, demonstrations demanding prisoner releases, rejecting SDF return to former areas, rejecting Raqqah electoral body...

akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

Also I'm offering 20% off on a year long subscription for the next week, meaning just $40 for full access to the weekly newsletter and other bonus content

akmckeever.substack.com/8ab39313

This Week in Northern Syria [8.2026] February 18 - 24: Series of IS attacks vs Gov't, Asayish commander visits Afrin, MoI deploy to Qamishli airport, and more...

This week's newsletter covers the series of IS attacks targeting govt forces in Deir ez-Zour and Raqqah, updates on (ex-) al-Houl residents, the latest in integration news, aid convoys pass thru Kobani blockade, US and Turkish withdrawals from the northeast...
akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

Also I'm offering 20% off on a year long subscription for the next week, meaning just $40 for full access to the weekly newsletter and other bonus content

akmckeever.substack.com/8ab39313

This Week in Northern Syria [8.2026] February 18 - 24: Series of IS attacks vs Gov't, Asayish commander visits Afrin, MoI deploy to Qamishli airport, and more...

This week's newsletter covers the series of IS attacks targeting govt forces in Deir ez-Zour and Raqqah, updates on (ex-) al-Houl residents, the latest in integration news, aid convoys pass thru Kobani blockade, US and Turkish withdrawals from the northeast...
akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

This Week in Northern Syria | Alexander McKeever | Substack Conflict and politics of the Syrian-Turkish borderlands. Click to read This Week in Northern Syria, by Alexander McKeever, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Check out Alexander’s work at This Week in Northern Syria: akmckeever.substack.com

American Prestige “American Prestige” takes a comprehensive look at U.S. foreign policy and int'l affairs, providing listeners with everything they need to know about what's going on in the world.

Listen now: americanprestigepod.com/episodes/380...

Bonus - The SDF After Bashar Al-Assad w/ Alexander McKeever

Derek speaks with Alex McKeever about the SDF collapse in eastern Syria and its integration into the new government.

Link in the replies 👇

This Week in Northern Syria [7.2026] February 11 - 17: 'Abdi and al-Shaibani attend the Munich Security Conference, al-Houl emptied, US vacated al-Shaddadi, and more...

This week's newsletter covers the latest in the ongoing gov't/SDF integration process, the Munich Security Council, the latest from Houl and Roj camps, the US withdrawal from Tanf and Shaddadi....

akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

This Week in Northern Syria [7.2026] February 11 - 17: 'Abdi and al-Shaibani attend the Munich Security Conference, al-Houl emptied, US vacated al-Shaddadi, and more...

This week's newsletter covers the latest in the ongoing gov't/SDF integration process, the Munich Security Council, the latest from Houl and Roj camps, the US withdrawal from Tanf and Shaddadi....

akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

Nour al-Din Isa is the only Syrian governor with mustache/no beard, the majority of the remaining 12 are mustache/beard while a handful are no mustache/beard. Still no Quneitra governor appointed

open access article he published on the topic back in 2009

ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/jcfl/vol15/i...

My deceased uncle Kent - former head librarian at the Columbia Law - has a book coming out soon on tontines, a longtime obsession of his (along with horse racing, car racing, modern chinese legal history, tintin, hedgehogs). Peak McKeever brain

www.amazon.com/Role-Tontine...

All Syrian apartments come with mate straws

Omar Alloush – murdered for building a shared future for Arabs and Kurds in Syria? Assassinated in his home, Alloush worked for reconciliation between Arabs and Kurds, focusing on stabilization projects in land liberated from Islamic State. Syrian Kurds blame Turkey for his murder.

While I was in Raqqah Omar Alloush’s name came up several times as the key figure behind the optimism of the first year or two of SDF/DAA rule. No one replaced him following his murder in 2018, and local disillusionment with the project grew year after year

thedefensepost.com/2018/03/17/o...

New/old faces in the Jazirah Key figures in the eastern administrations and SDF integration process

I've begun keeping track of both new government appointees in al-Raqqah and al-Hasakah, as well as the gov't and SDF personalities appearing in integration meetings in both al-Hasakah and Kobani, all collected in one post...

akmckeever.substack.com/p/newold-fac...

New/old faces in the Jazirah Key figures in the eastern administrations and SDF integration process

I've begun keeping track of both new government appointees in al-Raqqah and al-Hasakah, as well as the gov't and SDF personalities appearing in integration meetings in both al-Hasakah and Kobani, all collected in one post...

akmckeever.substack.com/p/newold-fac...

Map showing the seat breakdown by district of the October 2025 People's Assembly 'elections.' Tell Abyad and Ras al-‘Ain/Serê Kaniyê seats were selected later that month, while 'Ain al-'Arab/Kobani's 2 seats left vacant

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Sy...

This Week in Northern Syria [6.2026] February 4 - 10: Completion of initial Gov't/SDF integration steps, 4500 IS detainees moved to Iraq, Syria attends Coalition meeting, and more...

This week's newsletter covers the various integration steps taken including new Hasakah governor, joint checkpoints in Kobani, mutual withdrawal from frontlines in Hasakah, Qamishli airport and oil fields visits, along with a number of other key stories
akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

This Week in Northern Syria [6.2026] February 4 - 10: Completion of initial Gov't/SDF integration steps, 4500 IS detainees moved to Iraq, Syria attends Coalition meeting, and more...

This week's newsletter covers the various integration steps taken including new Hasakah governor, joint checkpoints in Kobani, mutual withdrawal from frontlines in Hasakah, Qamishli airport and oil fields visits, along with a number of other key stories
akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

World roundup: February 11 2026 Stories from Syria, Somalia, Kosovo, and elsewhere

World roundup: February 11 2026

Raqqah Dispatch Notes and photographs from a recent trip to the city

I visited Raqqah for four days last week... wrote up some notes on the current situation, DAANES rule, events of Jan 17/18, the new administration, and more...

akmckeever.substack.com/p/raqqah-dis...

Raqqah Dispatch Notes and photographs from a recent trip to the city

. @akmckeever.bsky.social with a nuanced travel log about his trip to Raqqa shortly after the Syrian Transitional Government took control, why the DAANES failed, and how residents are feeling about the future.
akmckeever.substack.com/p/raqqah-dis...

Raqqah Dispatch Notes and photographs from a recent trip to the city

I visited Raqqah for four days last week... wrote up some notes on the current situation, DAANES rule, events of Jan 17/18, the new administration, and more...

akmckeever.substack.com/p/raqqah-dis...

This Week in Northern Syria [5.2026] January 28 - February 3: New 'final' Gov't/SDF agreement reached, Internal Security forces enter al-Hasakah, al-Qamishli, and rural Kobani, SDF candidates for govt positions, and more...

This week's issue covers the January 30 deal, the entrance of Internal Security into Hasakah, Qamishli, and Shuyoukh as the first implementation steps, and more...

akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

Euphrates

Discussing Northern Syria with Alexander McKeever On the ongoing conflict between Damascus and the SDF

Great to have @akmckeever.bsky.social joining Kulturkampf from Damascus to discuss the latest developments in northeast Syria

kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...

Today I’ve seen license plates from every governorate of Syria apart from Quneitra without leaving my neighborhood (+ 2 DAANES Qamishli plates)