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.

Explore MENASOURCE

The latest on Syria


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


MENASource

Mar 31, 2025

Western sanctions against Damascus must evolve—Just as Syria has

By
Sinan Hatahet

The US can play a pivotal role in shaping the next chapter of Syria’s recovery by shifting its approach from maximum pressure to calibrated influence.

Middle East
Politics & Diplomacy


MENASource

Mar 25, 2025

Dispatch from Bekaa: Inside the sectarian skirmishes on the Syria-Lebanon border

By
Nicholas Blanford

Local Shia tribesmen have battled an assortment of Sunni jihadist militias and the new Syrian security forces dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

English
Lebanon


MENASource

Mar 19, 2025

Inside Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s diplomatic offensive with Syria’s Christians and Ismailis

By
Gregory Waters

HTS’s diplomatic offensive demonstrates the leadership’s political approach, which evolved over years of engaging with the Christian and Druze communities in Idlib.

Democratic Transitions
Freedom and Prosperity


MENASource

Mar 19, 2025

Why the United States must bridge the Iraq-Syria divide

By
Sarkawt Shamsulddin

With leverage over both capitals, the United States emerges as the linchpin in delicate diplomatic moment between Baghdad and Damascus.

English
Iraq


MENASource

Mar 18, 2025

Landmark SDF-Damascus deal presents opportunity, and uncertainty, for Turkey

By
Ömer Özkizilcik

Despite positive signals, critical ambiguities remain in agreement between Syrian President Ahmed Shara and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi.

English
Middle East


MENASource

Mar 10, 2025

Syria’s women face a new chapter. Here’s how to amplify their voices.

By
Diana Rayes , Hind Kabawat

It is critical for women to be involved in transitional justice and constitutional reform processes in Syria.

Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
Syria

Content

SyriaSource

Jul 27, 2015

The Northern Syria “Safe Zone”

By Frederic C. Hof

Reports of an American and Turkish agreement to close a sixty mile stretch of the Syria-Turkey border to the Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS) and to create—to an as yet undisclosed depth—a protected “safe zone” from the border south into Aleppo Province may signal a dramatic turn of Obama administration policy toward the crisis in […]

Syria Turkey

SyriaSource

Jul 24, 2015

Has Syria Been “Sold” To Iran?

By Frederic C. Hof

One of the staples of opinion among Syrians struggling to survive the twin onslaught of the Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS) and the Assad regime is that the United States “sold” Syria to Iran to close the deal with Tehran on nuclear weapons.

Iran Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 16, 2015

Syria: Preempting the Worst, Should Assad Fall

By Frederic C. Hof

Recent Assad regime reverses on Syrian battlefields have revived Obama administration fears of “catastrophic success:” that the person told by President Barack Obama in August 2011 to step aside might instead be pushed aside and that his fall could entail a regime collapse exploited by extremists intent on avenging the mass homicide atrocities of the […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 14, 2015

Dealing with Iran Post-Deal

By Frederic C. Hof

One may see the nuclear agreement with Iran as the product of a faulty premise and still respect the industry of US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team in arriving at respectable terms consistent with that premise. One may see the prospect of a regionally aggressive Iran soon to be flush with cash […]

Iran Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 14, 2015

Syria’s Hidden Crisis (Part II)

By Valerie Szybala

The Syrian government has trapped hundreds of thousands of its own people in besieged areas, intentionally depriving them of food, medicine, electricity, and water, as a cruel tactic of war. Despite the inhumane conditions they have been living with for years now, the people of these areas have received little help from the international community.

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 10, 2015

Syrian No-Fly Zone: From Slogans to Details

By Frederic C. Hof

The Washington Post, on July 10th,contained an impressive commentary authored by Atlantic Council Director Nicholas Burns and International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband.  In Syria’s Worsening Refugee Crisis Demands Action from the West, the authors argue—among other things—that, “The debate about a no-fly zone across Syria to protect civilians from the Assad government’s deadly ‘barrel bombs’ needs to […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 9, 2015

Trouble in Train-and-Equip Land

By Frederic C. Hof

On July 7, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter revealed to incredulous members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon is currently training sixty Syrian anti-Assad rebels to fight the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL).  Even in the context of a train-and-equip program that has aimed fatally low from the outset—some 15,000 fighters over […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 7, 2015

Syria’s Hidden Crisis (Part I)

By Valerie Szybala

The conflict in Syria has trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians in parts of Homs and Damascus, besieged by their own government for years. They struggle to survive, facing shortages of basic goods including food, water, and medicine while continuing to endure violent aerial attacks.

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 6, 2015

US Human Rights Report on Syria Portends a Merciless 2015

By Andrea Taylor

The 2014 Syria Report on Human Rights Practices released on June 25, 2015 describes at length—and sometimes in graphic detail—the egregious violations taking place in Syria.

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 24, 2015

Syria: Civilians Pay the Price

By Frederic C. Hof

Washington’s strategy to degrade and destroy the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) in Syria entails a significant contribution from Syrian civilians: their lives.

Syria
Load More