Q&A: Journalist Anand Gopal Tells the Story of a Democratic Experiment in SyriaHow a city overthrew Assad, and then tried to build a democracy from scratchLuke JohnsonMar 07, 2026∙ Paid21ShareDemocratic forces in Manbij, Syria in May 2016, after U.S.-backed Kurdish-majority forces liberated the city from ISIS. (Public Domain/Voice of America)Anand Gopal is a writer for The New Yorker cove…Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Luke Johnson.Claim my free postOr purchase a paid subscription.