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

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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

Rebuilding Syria

Sep 10, 2018

Has the US given up on stabilization efforts in Syria?

By Emily Burchfield

The Trump administration announced last month that it would not be releasing the over $200 million in State Department funds destined for stabilization operations in Syria, which were “frozen” by President Trump earlier in March this year pending comprehensive review.

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 4, 2018

Russia’s disinformation campaign has changed how we see Syria

By Mona Alami

Assad's future is looking brighter these days. He has regained control over much of Syria and is amassing loyalist forces in the north in preparation for the Idlib offensive, the last opposition Syrian stronghold.

Syria

SyriaSource

Aug 31, 2018

Escalations and military build-up: what is happening in Idlib?

By Rachel Rossi and Aisha Han

Recent diplomatic escalations and a military build-up in Idlib province indicate a larger upcoming battle. The regime and Russia intend to recover the regime's sovereignty over Syria, and that has always included Idlib.

Syria

SyriaSource

Aug 28, 2018

Death notices fortify barrier of fear in Syria

By Elizabeth Tsurkov

Over recent weeks, as the Syrian regime updated its civil registries across the country, hundreds of families discovered that their relatives died in detention. Tens of thousands of Syrians were arrested in the early years of the uprising and their families continued to hold on to hope that they were still alive.

Syria

SyriaSource

Aug 23, 2018

Chemical warnings and unintended consequences

By Frederic C. Hof

On August 21, 2018 the United States, France, and the United Kingdom issued a statement to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Assad regime’s deadly chemical attack on civilians in the rebel-held Ghouta suburb of Damascus. According to the three powers, “we will respond appropriately to any further use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, which has had such devastating humanitarian consequences for the Syria people.”

Syria

SyriaSource

Aug 20, 2018

Returning to mass graves in Raqqa

By Khalifa Al-Khudr

Since this story was first reported in April 2018, further updates have come out on Raqqa’s mass graves, highlighting the challenges of collecting bodies and identifying missing people. This is an analysis with eyewitness stories from people who have gone back to Raqqa.

Syria

SyriaSource

Aug 15, 2018

The sticky situation of the final Idlib offensive

By Reema Hibrawi

The final offensive in Idlib has been an ongoing discussion among Syria analysts for years. Idlib province contains opposition fighters, activists, and civilians displaced from Homs, Aleppo, Hama, and various parts of Damascus.

Syria

SyriaSource

Aug 8, 2018

Is Syria lost to Iran?

By Frederic C. Hof

The short answer is “No.” A family and an entourage that placed itself at the disposal of Iran while burning much of Syria to the ground will not prevail, provided the United States and its partners begin to push back. Yet termites are at work, and the fulfillment of this proviso is far from certain.

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 30, 2018

Russia’s refugee ploy

By Frederic C. Hof

Moscow’s sudden interest in expediting the return of Syrian refugees to their homes is not prompted by humanitarian concerns. Neither is it motivated by a desire to promote political conditions inside Syria that would encourage people to return to the country from which they fled.

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 26, 2018

Here’s why Syrian women are integral to peace

By Tamara Alrifai and Rachel Dore-Weeks

Eight years and many conferences into the Syria conflict, Syrian women still struggle to have their voices heard in decision making forums that directly impact them as citizens, and as political, economic, and civil society actors. Syrian women present at the western male-dominated EU-UN conference, Supporting Syria and the Region—known as Brussels II—in April 2018, explicitly spoke to the political processes that failed to include them, and to an aid industry that did not address their needs, including in protection from violence. 

Syria