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 26, 2025

Dispatch from Damascus: Church attack shows transition’s fragility

By
Ibrahim Al-Assil

The bombing at Mar Elias Church is more than an isolated tragedy. It is a signal that Syria’s transition remains vulnerable to sabotage.

Democratic Transitions
Middle East


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

Content

SyriaSource

Jun 9, 2016

Syrian Children and the Exit from the Dark Tunnel

By Salam Kawakibi

For more than five decades, the Syrian child was subjected to an orderly process of upbringing to control the phases of his growth and maturity. Following the nursery phase, which did not have an ideological formation, the child entered the realm of official popular organizations, along the North Korean model, controlling the child’s consciousness and […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 9, 2016

Al-Qaeda Wants to Establish an Emirate in Syria, but Not Now

By Haid Haid

There have recently been reports warning that the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliated group in Syria, is determined to declare its own Islamic emirate in Syria in the near future, but these warnings are likely jumping the gun. The argument goes that Nusra’s long term objective is establishing an Islamic emirate in Syria, but unlike […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 8, 2016

To Move the Unmovable

By Frederic C. Hof

Addressing parliament on June 7, 2016, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected power-sharing by calling for a national unity government, instead of what the permanent five members of the UN Security Council demanded in 2012: a transitional governing body arrived at via the mutual consent of regime and opposition negotiators. As the Syrian constitution accords all […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 7, 2016

#5YearsWeFled: The Beginning of a New Journey

By Ayman Jalwan

This series is from interviews with the lawyer Ayman Jalwan. It highlights the difficult choice that Syrians face—dying in the war zone that Syria had become, or flee the land he loved. Last year, he and his wife said goodbye to their families and joined the wave of citizens leaving the country. First they had […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 6, 2016

Shooting Blanks

By Frederic C. Hof

The June 1, 2016 deadline for Syria’s Assad regime to lift impediments to United Nations emergency food and medical deliveries to desperate Syrians has come and gone. The promise of air-delivered aid to circumvent regime ground sieges has not materialized. Russian bombing attacks on Syrian residential neighborhoods in support of an Assad regime effort to […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 6, 2016

Freedom Award Presented to Syria Civil Defense

By Frederic C. Hof

Frederic Hof delivered the following speech when presenting the Freedom Award to Mr. Raed al-Saleh and Mr. Farouq al-Habib, who accepted the award on behalf of Syria’s White Helmets.

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 2, 2016

Between the Jurisprudence of Blood and the Management of Savagery: Islamic State Advances Terror Methods

By Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently

Ever since the Hollywood-style execution of US journalist James Foley, the Islamic State (ISIS) continues to surprise those that analyze the group with its criminal propaganda throughout the world. On close scrutiny, the Hollywood-style executions by the Islamic State are not just a way to humiliate and celebrate the pain of its enemies, but are […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 1, 2016

Holding Territory Taken From ISIS in the Manbij Pocket

By Aaron Stein

The United States and its closest partner in the Syrian conflict, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have begun an offensive to take the northern city of Manbij from the Islamic State (ISIS). On May 31 and June 1, the coalition conducted 27 strikes in the area, according to the Coalition’s daily strike update press release. […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 1, 2016

In the Wake of the Jabla and Tartous Bombings

By Saleem al-Omar

The explosions on Monday, May 23 killed up to 150 people in the cities of Jabla and Tartous, in an attack that surprised both the regime and opposition. For the last three years, the opposition has launched missile strikes against these coastal cities without causing the same level of damage, at most killing a few […]

Syria

SyriaSource

May 31, 2016

#5YearsWeFled: Syrian Hospitality

By Ayman Jalwan

We were warned about Hungary: my friends had warned me that it was very dangerous there, and that the authorities in Hungary are really bad to refugees. I had heard this from my friends who traveled through before us: they were arrested in Hungary and put in jail for one month. The authorities beat them, […]

Syria
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