Global Hotspots: U.S.-Syria Diplomacy Progresses Amid Middle East Turbulence

New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy

This week in the Middle East, clashes between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces hindered implementation of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire, while U.S. President Donald Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met in Washington. In the Russia/Ukraine war, Russian forces continued their drive to capture the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk and seized three villages in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia oblast, while Canada imposed new sanctions targeting Russia’s drone and energy industries. In the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. and China continued their mutual easing of trade restrictions, while Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks hinting at Japan’s potential military involvement in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan drew a strong rebuke from Beijing. The U.S. government shutdown ended after 43 days. Read the full Weekly Forecast Monitor here: https://newlinesinstitute.org/forecast/week-20251114/ Marxist Arrow by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/