Marie Forestier is a nonresident senior fellow for the Syria Project in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs. She is also currently a consultant for the European Institute of Peace where she provides strategic policy advice to diplomats and international stakeholders on the Syrian political process, on peace building and conflict resolution. She is also the co-director of the Syria Strategy Project. Forestier has over a decade experience in conflict-affected countries in the Middle East and Central Asia.

In her previous work with international organizations and nongovernmental organizations, Forestier focused on human rights issues, the gender impact of counterterrorism policies in Syria and in Iraq, and women’s participation in peace processes in Syria and in Yemen, among other topics. Forestier was a visiting fellow at the Center for Women Peace and Security of the London School of Economics in 2016, researching sexual violence against Syrian women.

Forestier started her career a foreign correspondent for French television stations, based in Afghanistan and Turkey. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Sciences Po Paris and is a graduate of Columbia University Journalism School. Forestier appears in media including BBC, Al Jazeera English, and Le Monde.