![A photo taken at the "Written Eye" exhibition in Damascus.](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-04/440102934_10161397022379059_5003972563509657527_n.jpg?h=170ba4b8&itok=WSDRU__p)
![Danny Makki Headshot](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-11/DannyMakki_full.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=YYIPaWmE)
In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture
Danny Makki is a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute covering the internal dynamics of the conflict in Syria. He specializes in Syria's relations with Russia and Iran. On Twitter: @danny_makki
![A photo taken at the "Written Eye" exhibition in Damascus.](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-04/440102934_10161397022379059_5003972563509657527_n.jpg?h=170ba4b8&itok=WSDRU__p)
![JARABLUS, SYRIA - AUGUST 31: A member of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) stand guarded in front of a ISIS flag in the border town of Jarablus, August 31, 2016, Syria. Turkish troops and Turkey-backed rebels have been fighting Kurdish-led forces and IS since Turkey's incursion into Syria on Aug. 24. with the swift capture of Jarablus, a town a few km inside Syria that was held by Islamic State.(Photo by Defne Karadeniz/Getty Images)](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-04/GettyImages-598046150.jpg?h=265e640d&itok=dpEZilr3)
![Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets Syrian President Bashar Assad during the Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. Saudi Press Agency / Saudi Press Agency via AP](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-12/Assad%20MBS%202.jpg?h=18f453e1&itok=whrKWZ3g)
![Israeli military tanks take up a position during a drill in the annexed Golan Heights, amid increasing cross-border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel as fighting continues in the south with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 9, 2023.](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-11/GettyImages-1771810096.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=e-65RRfa)
![A photo taken on March 4, 2015 shows a banner bearing a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a street in the city of Damascus.](/https/www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-08/GettyImages-465209598.jpg?h=827d3341&itok=GyjpXcAp)