Issue Brief

Oct 31, 2017

Tehran stands atop the Syria-Iran alliance

By Danielle Pletka

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has managed to hold onto power through the civil war and has the determined support of Iran to thank for his position. In Tehran Stands Atop the Syria-Iran Alliance, author Danielle Pletka examines ties between Syria and Iran, the power relationship that has emerged, and the legacy it leaves for the […]

Iran Politics & Diplomacy

Report

Mar 24, 2016

The Kremlin’s actions in Syria: Origins, timing, and prospects

By Frederic C. Hof, Vladislav Inozemtsev, Adam Garfinkle, Dennis Ross

Resolution to the conflict in Syria requires an understanding of the Russian intervention, involvement, and interest therein. Putin’s interest in regaining the “influence that the Soviet Union once enjoyed in the Middle East” shapes how the West must engage Russia, as Ambassador John E. Herbst highlights in The Kremlin’s Actions in Syria, a new report […]

Arms Control Conflict

Arabic

Apr 14, 2015

تمهيد المسار للسلام في سوريا: مقترح لإنشاء قوة وطنية سورية من أجل الاستقرار

إعداد: فريديرك هوف، بسمة قضماني، جيفري وايت انطلاقاً من برنامج الرئيس باراك أوباما للتدريب-والتجهيز لتحويل المتمردين السوريين الوطنيين إلى قوات برية لمقاومة الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام، يوصي التقرير بالتطلع إلى ما هو أبعد: تجنيد، وتدريب، وتجهيز، ونشر قوة وطنية سورية من أجل الاستقرار تكون مؤلفة من سوريين فقط. تلك القوة، التي بإمكانها أن تشكل أساساً […]

Middle East Security & Defense

Article

Nov 17, 2014

Hezbollah in a Time of Transition

By Bilal Y. Saab and Daniel Byman

With the Middle East in flux and sectarianism on the rise, the Lebanese group finds itself overtaxed and on the defensive. Read Now (PDF) The Syrian conflict is transforming the Lebanese Hezbollah. A movement that long claimed to transcend sectarianism is now the longest pole in the Syrian regime’s tent, and has become a bogeyman […]

Middle East Syria

Issue Brief

Oct 2, 2014

ISIS war game: The coming stalemate

By Bilal Y. Saab and Michael S. Tyson

On September 22, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security conducted a war game to examine the type of strategic interaction that might ensue between the US-led coalition and Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) fighters over the next six months. The latest issue brief from the Brent Scowcroft Center on International […]

Iraq Syria

Article

Mar 8, 2014

The False Promise of a Piecemeal Approach to a WMD-Free Middle East

By Bilal Y. Saab

Almost two decades have passed since the Middle East Resolution – agreed by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – called to rid the region of all weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Yet the Middle East remains a heavily militarised theatre of conflict awash with such capabilities, […]

Israel Middle East

Report

Feb 12, 2014

The state of Arab transitions: Hope resilient despite many unmet demands

By Mirette F. Mabrouk and Stefanie A. Hausheer

Report authors Mirette F. Mabrouk, deputy director for regional programs, and Stefanie A. Hausheer, assistant director, examine the progress in achieving the original demands of protestors and contend that local actors would embrace greater international support to help facilitate genuine transitions. By examining six key themes—political polarization, constitution-drafting processes, transitional justice, economic progress, civil society […]

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

Event Recap

Aug 28, 2013

Experts Highlight Reasons and Implications for Intervention in Syria

Multiple reports have indicated that a US-led Western coalition will strike Syrian military targets “as early as Thursday.” The Obama administration is discussing multiple considerations and contingencies in regard to how it should approach the response to the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, Syria. To discuss these considerations and their implications for Syria, the war, […]

Syria

Issue Brief

Jul 9, 2013

Beyond spillover: Syria’s role in Lebanon’s drift toward political violence

By Faysal Itani and Sarah Grebowski

Two new issue briefs from the Rafik Hariri Center at the Atlantic Council evaluate the complex and pernicious effects of Syria’s civil war on Lebanon. In this issue brief, Hariri Center Fellow Faysal Itani and Research Assistant Sarah Grebowski assess the political, security, and humanitarian implications of the Syria crisis in Lebanon. Events in Syria have sharpened existing fault […]

Syria