Ibrahim Al-Assil

Ibrahim Al-Assil is a nonresident senior fellow for the Syria Project in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs. He is a senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative at the Belfer Center, and project lead for the Syria Transition Lab. His work examines geopolitics and political transitions.

Al-Assil’s work bridges academic research, policy, and practice, informed by his engagement in conflict resolution, regional Track II dialogues, and grassroots movements. He previously taught courses on Middle East comparative politics and great-power competition as a professorial lecturer at George Washington University. He has held fellowships at Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership, the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Orient Research Centre in Dubai. He was a founding member and president of the Syrian Nonviolence Movement and has served on the boards of the Harvard Arab Alumni Association and various political risk advisory groups.

Al-Assil has advised U.S., European, and regional policymakers, testified at the United Nations, and contributed to policy and academic conversations across the world. He has been published and quoted in leading international outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. He regularly appears on BBC, CNN, and Alarabiya, and previously created and hosted Podcast AlAwsat. He is a contributor to Liberties Journal on culture and politics. He holds a Doctor of International Affairs (DIA) from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard Kennedy School, and an MBA from the University of Essex.