BEIRUT — Lebanon’s cabinet voted Tuesday to deport to the United Arab Emirates an Egyptian activist and poet detained by Lebanese security forces after crossing the porous border from Syria last month.

Analysis: After decades of fraught ties shaped by conflict and occupation, will Assad's fall lead to a new era of stability between Lebanon and Syria?

Syria has been a work in progress, a nation to be rebuilt, since the downfall of its autocratic president, Bashar al-Assad, a month ago. It is far too early to ascertain in what political direction Syria is heading, but if the past is any guide, Syrians should not expect their country to become a Jeffersonian democracy.

The Islamist takeover of Syria has left Egypt apprehensive and cautiously calibrating future ties, years after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power by toppling the Muslim Brotherhood.

The fall of Assad in Syria will be complex for Jordan. The victory of HTS may empower local Islamists while reopening trade will boost its economy. Jordan must work closely with Syria’s new leaders to address the challenges ahead.

Alawites in Syria are facing a violent backlash, stoking fears of wider sectarian instability in a divided Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

The two Mideast powerhouses have been trying to block the rise of Islamist groups in the region for two decades. The rebel takeover in Damascus will test that approach.

It is naive to assume that the current regime in Syria will remain in place — as it is — going forward. Syria is now in a state of uneasy transition and the political-military situation will remain in flux as long as the conflicts between the various armed and civic groups are not resolved.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani confirmed the call had taken place, and said that the two countries shared a role in “achieving stability and prosperity for region”. On Saturday, an Egyptian aid plane touched down at Damascus airport carrying Cairo’s first humanitarian aid delivery since Assad’s ousting, the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Syria's de facto leader has said it could take up to four years to hold elections in Syria, and that he plans on dissolving his Islamist group that led the country's insurgency at an anticipated national dialogue summit for the country.

The Islamist takeover of Syria has left Egypt apprehensive and cautiously calibrating future ties, years after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power

With Erdogan’s anti-Israel stance and rival interests in Syria, experts warn of a potential unprecedented confrontation amid ongoing regional instability.