Featured reading

Hof in Defense News: Defeating ISIS and Protecting Civilians in Raqqa

New Atlanticist
Dec 8, 2024

Experts react: Rebels have toppled the Assad regime. What’s next for Syria, the Middle East, and the world?

By
Atlantic Council experts

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been ousted as opposition forces quickly took the Syrian capital. Atlantic Council experts share their insights on the developments.

Conflict
Corruption

Hof in Defense News: Defeating ISIS and Protecting Civilians in Raqqa

Fast Thinking
Dec 8, 2024

Assad has fallen. Now what?

By
Atlantic Council

The power shift in Syria will reverberate across the Middle East and the world. Our experts explain what’s next.

Conflict
Iran

Hof in Defense News: Defeating ISIS and Protecting Civilians in Raqqa

New Atlanticist
Dec 9, 2024

Dispatch from Doha: Assad’s fall, Iran’s weakness, and the impact of unintended consequences

By
Jonathan Panikoff

In just six months, Iran has slid from a position of strength to perhaps the weakest it has been since 1979.

Conflict
Iran

Hof in Defense News: Defeating ISIS and Protecting Civilians in Raqqa

MENASource
Dec 10, 2024

Where Syria goes next after the fall of Assad

By
Frederic C. Hof

With the Assad family agone, Syria, at long last, has a chance to achieve the kind of political transition envisioned by the 2012 Geneva Final Communique and UNSCR 2254.

Conflict
Middle East

Hof in Defense News: Defeating ISIS and Protecting Civilians in Raqqa

New Atlanticist
Dec 10, 2024

A blueprint for bringing about a new Syria

By
Kirsten Fontenrose

For a reconstruction strategy in Syria to be effective, all parties must adopt a unified approach that is clear-eyed about the country’s new leaders.

Crisis Management
International Organizations

Explore our Syria work

Syria Project

Our work on Syria sheds light on the ongoing struggle of Syrians to fulfill their desire for democratic self-governance as the United States and the international community grapple with the aftermath of a devastating civil war, millions of refugees across the Middle East and Europe, and ongoing security and political challenges spilling over Syria’s borders.


Group of world leaders sitting around table set up.

Syria Strategy Project

The Atlantic Council, Middle East Institute, and European Institute of Peace collaborate with subject matter experts and policymakers in the US, Europe, and the Middle East to develop a holistic strategy to sustainably forge a pathway to resolving Syria’s crisis.

LEARN MORE

Featured experts

Leadership

Fellow


Qutaiba Idlbi


Resident Senior Fellow, Syria

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economic Sanctions
Entrepreneurship

Fellows

Fellow


Michel Duclos


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Conflict
Crisis Management

Fellow


Arwa Damon


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
Civil Society

Fellow


Ömer Özkizilcik


Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
English

Fellow


Sinan Hatahet


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
Economic Sanctions

Former fellow


Hind Kabawat


Former Nonresident Senior Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
Civil Society

Fellow


Diana Rayes 


Nonresident Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
Civil Society

Past events

Online Event
Thu, December 19, 2024 • 12:30 pm ET

Putin loses in Syria. Is Russia in retreat?

Conflict
Europe & Eurasia
Middle East
Russia

Online Event
Tue, May 21, 2024 • 10:30 am ET

Exploring investment opportunities in northwest Syria

Conflict
Economic Sanctions
Economy & Business
Financial Regulation


Event Recap

Mar 29, 2024

Launching the Syria Strategy Project

By
JP Reppeto and Charles Johnson

On March 18, 2024, the Atlantic Council’s Syria Project, the Middle East Institute’s Syria Program, the European Institute of Peace, and Madaniya Civil Society Network launched the Syria Strategy, an intensive process of engagement with subject matter experts and policymakers in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East to develop a holistic strategy to […]

Civil Society
Conflict

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Learn more about the Middle East Programs

Middle East Programs

Working with our allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

EXPLORE THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL’S MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMS

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Content

In the News

Mar 31, 2017

Hof in Defense News: Defeating ISIS and Protecting Civilians in Raqqa

By Frederic C. Hof

Read the full article here.

Syria

In the News

Mar 31, 2017

Hof Quoted by the New York Times on ISIS and the Syrian Conflict

By Frederic C. Hof

Read the full article here.

Syria

In the News

Mar 31, 2017

Stein in CFR: Reconciling US-Turkish Interests in Northern Syria

By Aaron Stein

Read the report here.

Syria Turkey

SyriaSource

Mar 31, 2017

Obama and Trump on Assad: Change of Policy?

By Frederic C. Hof

Syria-watchers, including members of the United States Senate, reacted critically to statements by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley about the Trump administration’s position on the status of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In Ankara on March 30th Tillerson commented that Assad’s long-term status “will be decided by the […]

Syria

In the News

Mar 29, 2017

Stein Quoted by Rudaw on Turkish-Russian Cooperation in Syria

By Aaron Stein

Read the full article here.

Russia Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 29, 2017

Rebels Advance in Hama Countryside as Regime Mobilizes Army Again to Defend City

By Saleem al-Omar

Syrian rebel forces have reached the village of Qamhana in the northern Hama countryside, the scene of fierce clashes between regime forces and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (the Levant Liberation Committee), which includes jihadist factions such as the Fateh al-Sham Front (formerly the al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front). The village lies four kilometers (2.4 miles) from Hama […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 29, 2017

A responsibility to project? Power, law, and ‘nascent norms’ in the Levant

By Anthony Elghossain

America and its allies eviscerated in practice what they elevated in principle. They adopted a bunch of tactically disjointed, strategically counterproductive, morally abysmal, and logically barren half-measures and remedial programs.

International Norms Syria

In the News

Mar 29, 2017

Stein Quoted by the Financial Times on Turkey’s Military Operation in Syria

By Aaron Stein

Read the full article here.

Syria Turkey

SyriaSource

Mar 28, 2017

Deir Ezzor, the ‘Forgotten City,’ Is Becoming Important for ISIS

By Hasan Arfeh

The city of Deir Ezzor joined the Syrian revolution early on, and protestors organized a number of demonstrations against the regime in 2011 and continued until the city emerged from regime control in 2012. After that, many groups in the Syrian opposition and Islamist battalions passed through Deir Ezzor. In July of 2014, the city […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 28, 2017

Beyond Syria: Iran and Future Conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia

By Ali Alfoneh

The catastrophic war in Syria seems to have gotten nearer to a tragic conclusion, but the end of this war may herald the beginning of other regional conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia. What began as peaceful protests against the Assad regime’s dictatorial rule, soon evolved into a proxy war between Iran on […]

Iran Syria
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Experts

Fellow

Amany Qaddour 

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Diana Rayes 

Nonresident Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Lukas Andriukaitis

Nonresident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Disinformation Eastern Europe

Staff

Elise Baker

Senior Staff Lawyer, Strategic Litigation Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

Nicholas Blanford

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Conflict

Fellow

Alia Brahimi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society
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