A conversation with:

Dr. Steven Heydemann

Janet W. Ketcham 1953 Professor in Middle East Studies

Smith College

Dr. Tamara Cofman Wittes

Senior Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy

Brookings Institution

Moderated by:

Mr. Faysal Itani

Senior Fellow, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East

Atlantic Council

Over the past two years, the Atlantic Council’s Rebuilding Syria Initiative has worked to inform and advance transatlantic policy to foster a transition toward legitimate public order in Syria through economic reconstruction and stabilization. In this effort, we have pooled expertise from specialists to cover the many challenges of rebuilding Syria, including in political economy, development, infrastructure, civil society, law, and employment.

Lessons learned from these engagements are captured in the Initiative’s final report, “Rethinking Stabilization in Eastern Syria: Toward a Human Security Framework,” authored by Dr. Steven Heydemann.

The report finds that as the focus of the Syrian conflict narrows to the two remaining contested areas of the country, the presence of US forces on the ground gives the United States some leverage in shaping the closing trajectory of the conflict. In eastern Syria, the United States has an opportunity to use stabilization—a political endeavor to create conditions where locally legitimate authorities and systems can peaceably manage conflict—to advance both short- and long-term interests.

Please join us on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. for the launch of this new report and an engaging conversation on the challenges and prospects for rebuilding Syria between the report author and Dr. Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow at Brookings with expertise in conflict resolution and governance in Arab states.

On Twitter? Follow @ACmideast and use #RebuildingSyria

This event is open to press and on the record.

VISITING THE COUNCIL: Metro and parking info