Stephen Starr

Stephen Starr is an Irish journalist who lived in Syria from 2007 to 2012. He is the author of Revolt in Syria: Eye-Witness to the Uprising (Oxford University Press: 2012).

Author Articles

Decisive juncture. People walk past a billboard in Istanbul depicting a multiple choice answer sheet folded into a paper airplane. (AFP)
What the Istanbul election could tell us
June 15, 2019
Unknown insights. Cover of Sam Dagher’s new book “Assad Or We Burn the Country: How One Family’s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria.”
New book reveals unknown details about how Assad prevailed in Syria
June 08, 2019
A view of a street in Vilvoorde, Belgium. (AFP)
This European country’s deradicalisation plan actually works
May 25, 2019
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, of the Socialist Workers’ Party, speaks to supporters while celebrating the result in Spain’s general election in Madrid, April 28. (Reuters)
Spanish election shows there’s hope yet for Europe
May 04, 2019
Stubborn threat. A 2014 file photo shows an Islamic State militant in Syria’s northern Raqqa province. (Reuters)
What ISIS defeat means for Europe’s domestic terror threat
April 20, 2019
An embarrassing setback. An AKP supporter stands near the headquarters of the party in Istanbul, March 31. (AFP)
Erdogan’s version of democracy is one in which only he wins
April 13, 2019
People wait in line to buy vegetables sold in a tent set up by the municipality in the Bayrampasa district of Istanbul, Turkey, February. (Reuters)
Local elections could challenge Erdogan’s supremacy
March 16, 2019
A glimmer of hope. A Syrian man lights a candle in front of a portrait of Italian Jesuit priest Father Paolo Dall’Oglio during a vigil calling for his release at the St. Joseph Church in Beirut. (AP)
Is negotiating with ISIS an option?
February 23, 2019
Breaking isolation? Syrian President Bashar Assad (L) receiving Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at Damascus Airport, December 16. (SANA)
Time for the West to embrace Assad again?
February 02, 2019
A restaurant worker stands by a board outside a currency exchange shop in Istanbul. (AP)
Erdogan risks electoral blowback as economy slows
February 02, 2019
Elusive dreams. Supporters and fighters of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) drive in the street in Qamishli. (AFP)
Is the YPG really a threat to Turkey?
January 05, 2019
Narrow horizons. A Syrian flag flies in a rubble strewn street at the entrance of the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Damascus. (AFP)
What will Syria look like in 2019?
December 15, 2018
Falling apart. A Turkish soldier stands atop a bulldozer at a camp for the Syrian displaced in the Deir al-Ballut refugee camp in Afrin’s countryside, on November 19. (AFP)
Turkey has dug a massive hole for itself in Syria
November 24, 2018
General-Secretary of DISK/Dev Yapi-Is Nihat Demir. (Courtesy of Nihat Demir)
Union leader describes Istanbul construction site as ‘slave camp’
October 20, 2018
A Syrian man evacuated from the area of Fuaa and Kafraya in the Idlib province, waits outside a bus at al-Eis crossing south of Aleppo, on July 19. (AFP)
Europe’s second Syrian migrant crisis could be coming
August 11, 2018
US President Donald Trump (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talk at the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, on July 11. (Reuters)
Arm-wrestling or not, Turkey’s spat with the West leaves a mark
August 04, 2018
Supporters of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attend a rally in Eskisehir in north-western Turkey, last June. (AP)
Erdogan’s party seeks power for a generation
August 04, 2018
Syrian flags hang from buildings as workers rebuild destroyed stores in Harasta on the outskirt of Damascus, on July 15. (AFP)
Talk of rebuilding Syria is delusional
July 28, 2018
Against all odds. An election committee member shows a ballot displaying a vote for Selahattin Demirtas, presidential candidate of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) at a polling station in Istanbul, on June 24, 2018. (AFP)
How the Kurdish-rooted HDP party survived Erdogan’s onslaught
June 30, 2018
Turkish police officers escort men, suspected of being ISIS members, at a court in Adana in southern Turkey, last November. (AP)
Why ISIS still poses a massive threat to Turkey
June 23, 2018