About the center

The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East examines the barriers preventing many people in the region from reaching their fullest potential. Our work also highlights success stories of individuals and institutions who overcame significant challenges in pursuit of social, economic, and political progress. Inspired by these examples, we delineate practical and implementable policy recommendations that policymakers in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East can implement to unleash the region’s economic and human potential.

Featured commentary & analysis

Featured in-depth research & reports

Leadership

Subscribe to get the latest analysis straight to your inbox

Events

We convene the most important stakeholders on issues of primary concern to the transatlantic community when it comes the Middle East and North Africa, from senior US and Middle East government officials to civil society activists and budding entrepreneurs.

Past events

Content

SyriaSource

Nov 19, 2018

One group’s work to stabilize Syria

By Reema Hibrawi

Few major implementors currently exist in Syria developing and executing projects to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure ranging from roads, buildings, healthcare system, agriculture and irrigation systems, to the electrical grid. Though a number of reasons limit the existence of project implementors, the primary reason is the ongoing conflict and lack of stability. A lack of […]

Syria

MENASource

Nov 16, 2018

Turkish policy in Syria: Divining intent and options for the United States

By Aaron Stein

Turkey was once the main sponsor of the Syrian opposition’s effort to topple Bashar al Assad. However, beginning in late 2016, Turkish policy has shifted following the Russian defeat of Turkish backed proxies in Aleppo. This change in policy sparked a reassessment of Turkish strategy away from the overthrow of the regime and towards close cooperation with Russia and competition with the United States.

Syria Turkey

SyriaSource

Nov 15, 2018

Frederic C. Hof’s remarks on Syria at the World Affairs Council

By Frederic C. Hof

Syria is a country that’s been an important part of my life since I was 16-years-old, when I went off to Damascus during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school as an American Field Service exchange student. I lived with a Syrian family, won lifelong Syrian friends, and learned a lot about a country that had, for a century, sent many of its best and brightest to America.

Syria

MENASource

Nov 14, 2018

The United States should not get involved in Libya’s civil war

By Hafed Al-Ghwell

An unmistakable sense of despair and gloom accompanies most news reports and literature on the state of affairs in Libya after 2011. The Arab Spring was meant to usher in a period of unprecedented change after decades of notoriously undemocratic leadership across the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, seven years later, there has been very little positive development in terms of transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in the Arab world.

Libya

SyriaSource

Nov 9, 2018

Regime resurgence endangers local aid community

By Barrett Limoges, Sage Smiley, Reem Ahmad, and Noura Hourani for Syria Direct

When pro-government forces recaptured the southwestern rebel stronghold of Daraa province in July, Muhammad Sabsabi’s colleagues tried to bury their pasts.Some tried to flee. Many simply went underground.

Syria

MENASource

Nov 7, 2018

The unknowns of the Libya stabilization conference

By Nicola Pedde

The approaching conference on Libyan stabilization hosted by Italy—which will be held on November 12 and 13 in Palermo—will bring together the main Libyan leaders, with the purpose of defining their respective negotiation platforms in advance. Italy must not only navigate the components of Libya's heterogeneous and conflicting political landscape, but also host the most relevant regional and global actors.

Libya

MENASource

Nov 5, 2018

The end—or not—of Tunisia’s “Mut’ah”?

By Erin A. Neale

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi announced in September the official end to the alliance between Nidaa Tounes Ennahda that had been holding on since February 2015. Termed a “mut'ah”—a temporary marriage of traditional Shia origin—by Tunisia expert Dr. Monica Marks, it was a marriage of convenience between the two main parliamentary parties to preserve stability and to focus on counterterrorism, improving the economy, and government efficiency during the critical transitional period following the ousting of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

North Africa

MENASource

Oct 30, 2018

Sudan’s security services target refugees in Cairo

By Mat Nashed

When Sudan’s government was bombing hospitals in one of its own states in 2011, Kareem was among the activists detailing the atrocities. His work tracking the counterinsurgency in South Kordofan made him a target for Sudan’s security services, and in December 2012 he was accosted by two men who sprayed him with a nerve agent that put him in the hospital.

North Africa Sudan

SyriaSource

Oct 29, 2018

Strategic change and its challenges

By Frederic C. Hof

During the Obama administration, Syria was treated as a two-part puzzle divided by the Euphrates River. East of the Euphrates, the objective was to degrade and destroy ISIS (ISIL, Daesh, Islamic State). The strategy was to support the anti-ISIS combat operations of a Kurdish (eventually Kurdish-dominated) militia with weapons, ammunition, supplies, and advisors on the ground, and combat aircraft aloft. Although the Trump administration believes it can take credit for having accelerated the anti-ISIS campaign, the objective and strategy in the east have remained constant.

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 26, 2018

War games in Syria: a lesson in futility

By Aaron Stein

The conflict in Syria is not comparable to global thermonuclear war, or tic-tac-toe. However, the ultimate point of Joshua’s game with himself is to learn a critical lesson: futility. 

Syria