SyriaSource

SyriaSource followed the dynamics in Syria through in-depth analysis of the impact of the conflict on Syria, its neighbors and the international community. Amplifying a diverse range of Syrian and regional voices—to reach both English—and Arabic-speaking audiences, SyriaSource transforms their words from strong but distant ideas to resounding perspectives not often heard among Washington and international policymakers. For the latest work on Syria, please visit MENASource.

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The latest on Syria

MENASource

Jun 20, 2025

On World Refugee Day, complexities persist for Syrian returnees

By Sinan Hatahet

While Syria’s political shift brings new hope, it also highlights the complex realities that still define the Syrian landscape.

Middle East Migration

MENASource

Jun 10, 2025

Why DDR programs are the missing link to Syrian stability

By Muhsen al-Mustafa

With the end of Western sanctions, Syria faces a rare opportunity to address the imbalances of the post-conflict period.

Middle East Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

MENASource

Jun 4, 2025

Why Iraq should build bridges with its ‘new’ neighbor, Syria

By Shermine Serbest

Iraq’s position on the Syria transition is split between two camps: the official government, and that of the powerful non-state actors.

Iraq Middle East

MENASource

May 28, 2025

Sectarianism, social media, and Syria’s information blackhole

By Gregory Waters and Kayla Koontz

Since Assad’s December ousting, Syrians have struggled to sift the truth from fake claims about security incidents across the country.

Civil Society Middle East

MENASource

May 22, 2025

Lebanon’s 1982 war reverberates in Israel’s Syria campaign

By Sinan Hatahet

Israel’s ongoing intervention in Syria appears different from its 1982 invasion of Lebanon—but beneath the surface, parallels are striking.

Israel Lebanon

MENASource

May 19, 2025

Could Trump be ‘mediator-in-chief’ for Turkey and Israel in Syria?

By Rachel Bradenburg

If Trump wants to achieve the Middle East’s “deal of a century,” its important that Netanyahu and Erdogan resolve their differences in Syria.

Israel Middle East

New Atlanticist

May 13, 2025

Experts react: Trump just announced the removal of all US sanctions on Syria. What’s next? 

By Atlantic Council experts

Our experts provide their insights on how the removal of US sanctions on Syria would affect the country and the wider region.

Civil Society Economic Sanctions

MENASource

May 8, 2025

From rubble to rebirth: A model for Syria’s reconstruction

By Mahmood Alhosain

Almost six months since Assad regime collapse, four key pillars will determine whether this new Damascus can seize the opportunity.

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

MENASource

Apr 29, 2025

Why the US must not let Syria slip away

By Luke Wagner

Reconsidering the uneasy US-Syria relationship amid reports that Trump and al-Sharaa will meet during the US president’s Saudi Arabia visit.

Economic Sanctions Middle East

MENASource

Apr 1, 2025

Israel is making a miscalculation in southern Syria. Here is why.

By Ömer Özkizilcik

Israel’s approach in southern Syria risks deepening sectarian divisions, eroding the Druze community’s standin, and fueling broader instability.

Conflict Defense Policy

Content

SyriaSource

Jan 29, 2020

The uncounted: Life after war for Syria’s living martyrs

By Gregory Waters

For all Syrians, honoring the men who died fighting for their side’s cause is a central social event. But while martyrs are immortalized in life-sized posters on every street corner, wounded fighters, known as “living martyrs,” risk becoming outcasts in their communities.

Conflict Syria

SyriaSource

Dec 24, 2019

The relentless assault on Idlib

By Reema Hibrawi

The relentless airstrikes campaign on Idlib by the Syrian regime and Russia air forces predicted by many analysts, including this author, remains a defining battlefield to the regime in the Syrian conflict, nine years later. Seen as a last opposition stronghold populated by extremists and a millions of civilians and internally displaced people (IDP), Idlib province and its surroundings are a deadly place.

Conflict Corruption

SyriaSource

Dec 24, 2019

Looking back at 2019: Our top five blogs

By Reema Hibrawi

It was an especially bleak year for Syria as displacement across the country continued especially in Idlib province. Below are our top five blogs in 2019 that touched on these important issues that captured the attention of our readers.

Corruption Political Reform
The complete destruction in Syria

SyriaSource

Dec 18, 2019

Hof’s analysis of Susan Rice’s Syria comments

By Frederic C. Hof

Former national security advisor, Susan Rice, recently wrote an op-ed lamenting the lack of options in solving the Syrian crisis, much like Samantha Powers, however, their arguments do not hold up against scrutiny.

Politics & Diplomacy Security & Defense

SyriaSource

Dec 10, 2019

Life after war: The impact of conflict on Syrian artists

By Natasha Hall

After a scrawled graffiti message in Daraa, Syrian artists began to express themselves more than they ever could since the Assad family took power. Revolutionary art exploded on to the global scene during the Arab Spring. Particularly in Syria, artists, writers, and filmmakers found a new voice, free of fear. Defiance, grief, and frustration were […]

Conflict Resilience & Society

SyriaSource

Dec 6, 2019

Reconstruction and security sector reform in Syria must go hand in hand

By Nora-Elise Beck and Lars Döbert

The structure and characteristics of the pre-conflict Syrian security sector contributed heavily to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war; for decades, it stood for corruption, discrimination, violent repression, and large-scale human rights abuses. When the Arab Spring began to unfold in Egypt and Tunisia in early 2011, a group of Syrian school boys got […]

Germany Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

SyriaSource

Nov 18, 2019

After the Syria withdrawal, it’s time the US rethinks the use of proxy forces

By Mona Alami

Proxy warfare is a 21st century military playbook utilized by great powers, like Russia, and the United States with some using it better than others.

Security & Defense Syria

SyriaSource

Nov 8, 2019

The death of Baghdadi: How ISIS used al-Qaeda’s mistakes to grow a caliphate

By Amanda E. Rogers

Optimistic predictions about the end of the Islamic State (ISIS) surged in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s October 27 press conference announcing the death of the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but prove misguided in the long term. The threat posed by ISIS remains high, particularly outside the para-state’s previously held territories in […]

Extremism Iraq

SyriaSource

Nov 7, 2019

Journalists in northeast Syria fear the return of state security services

By Dan Wilkofsky

US President Donald Trump’s decision in early October to withdraw American troops from the Syria-Turkey border put the US’s local partner in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS, Daesh), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in an unenviable position. Faced with an offensive by Turkey, NATO’s second largest military, the SDF struck a deal with […]

Conflict Media

SyriaSource

Oct 23, 2019

What the Turkish-Russian deal in Syria means for Vladimir Putin

By Frederic C. Hof

The Kremlin stands to reap significant rewards from its agreement with Turkey on Syria.

Politics & Diplomacy Syria
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