Panorama of Week: Syria faces partition risks as conflicts grow in Africa

Starting with the Syrian issue, Al-Modon online newspaper considered that Syria is undergoing an unprecedented transitional phase that goes beyond traditional models of transition. It argued that the fall of a ruling system that lasted for more than five decades constituted a political and societal earthquake that altered the structure of the state and the relationship between society, authority, and itself.

The newspaper pointed out that the current struggle for power, along with the multiplicity of internal actors with divergent agendas, contributes to obstructing the stability required to launch a recovery process. It warned against exploiting sectarian and ethnic diversity as a tool for conflict and the spread of chaos.

The newspaper stressed that “the terrorist operations witnessed recently in several Syrian areas deepen societal divisions and impose on the new state the adoption of a comprehensive containment policy based on equal citizenship, trust-building, and the consolidation of coexistence, in order to combat terrorism and build the state.”

The Syrian Coast at a Crossroads: Between Integration and Partition Projects… What Are the Best Solutions?

For its part, the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar addressed developments in the Syrian coastal region, noting that the area stands at a sensitive crossroads between integration within the Syrian state and what it described as partition projects.

The newspaper referred to rising protests and security tensions in recent weeks, which reached their peak in bloody demonstrations that resulted in casualties.

It quoted academics and experts as saying that limited administrative decentralization, alongside political inclusion of the Alawite component, could help ease tensions and prevent a slide toward fragmentation. Economically, this approach could also provide an outlet.

From Sudan to Bab al-Mandab: One Map of Conflict

Meanwhile, Asharq Al-Awsat indicated that what is happening in Sudan goes beyond being an internal war, forming instead a link in a broader geopolitical struggle connected to redrawing maps of influence in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and the Horn of Africa.

The newspaper stated that the core of the conflict lies in a confrontation between the model of the nation-state and the model of armed power operating outside its logic. It warned against the danger of normalizing the presence of militias as political actors, as this poses a direct threat to the concept of sovereignty and the unity of states.

It also affirmed that Sudan’s stability has become a regional and international test amid attempts to impose new realities governed by the logic of force rather than law.

Venezuela and U.S. Options

For its part, Al-Khaleej newspaper addressed the escalation of the crisis between the United States and Venezuela, considering it a long-term strategic conflict that goes beyond diplomatic disagreements. It is linked to a U.S. vision that views Latin America as a vital sphere that cannot be left to competitors such as China and Russia.

The newspaper noted that Washington primarily targets Venezuelan oil and mineral wealth, and recalled the historical background of the conflict—from the European naval blockade in 1902, through the nationalization of Venezuelan oil, to the policies of Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro, and the escalating U.S. sanctions since 2015.

ANHA