January 21, 2026
A new article by Center for Right Wing Studies faculty affiliate Cihan Tuğal was published in the journal Spectre. Tuğal discusses the implications of world leaders cautiously embracing Syria's new leader (despite his connections to violent forms of salafism) following two decades where the West treated “salafi-jihadis” as the main global villains. The article focuses on Syria's new regime while examining the broader regional context and connections to global capitalism.