Featured reading

Russia Won’t Negotiate before Aleppo Falls to the Regime

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

Russia Won’t Negotiate before Aleppo Falls to the Regime

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

Russia Won’t Negotiate before Aleppo Falls to the Regime

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

Russia Won’t Negotiate before Aleppo Falls to the Regime

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

Russia Won’t Negotiate before Aleppo Falls to the Regime

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.

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Featured experts

Leadership

Former fellow


Qutaiba Idlbi


Former 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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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.

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Sign up for the MENASource newsletter, highlighting pieces that follow democratic transitions and economic changes throughout the region.

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Content

SyriaSource

Oct 20, 2016

Russia Won’t Negotiate before Aleppo Falls to the Regime

By Daniel R. DePetris

Before US Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to travel to Switzerland and London last weekend for discussions on the Syrian crisis, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner was crystal clear that people should not expect anything much from the meetings. In hindsight, he was right: the discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 20, 2016

Ambassador Frederic C. Hof’s Remarks at the National Defense University

By Frederic C. Hof

I’d like to thank the US Army Special Operations Center of Excellence and Ambassador Greta Holtz for having invited me to this symposium. It’s been a quarter century since I’ve worn the green suit of an Army officer, and I know for a fact it no longer fits. But as a veteran of Vietnam and […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 19, 2016

Assad Ends ‘Damascus Reconciliations’ and Makes Stopping the Bombing Conditional on the Opposition’s Departure

By Hosam al-Jablawi

A few days after the Syrian regime forcibly evicted residents of Darayya, it began bombing areas around the capital of Damascus, despite the long-term truce between regime forces and opposition factions in these towns that had been in effect since 2014. According to the truce, the regime would not target residential areas and displaced persons […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 19, 2016

Assad Wants to Rule Syria, but Economics Say Otherwise

By Mona Alami

Emboldened by his troops’ advances across Syria, President Bashar al-Assad declared in July 2016 that he could retake the whole of Syria in just a “few months” if other countries withdrew their support from rebel and jihadi factions. Despite Assad’s confident appraisal, the destruction of the country’s economy will prevent him from reuniting the country […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 18, 2016

Russia Has Never Been Serious about Lifting the Siege on Aleppo, So Why the Temporary Ceasefire Now?

By Haid Haid

On October 17, 2016, Russia’s defense minister announced that Russian and Syrian forces would be halting hostilities for eight hours in the eastern districts of Aleppo on October 20 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. This brief cease-fire will supposedly allow for the free passage of civilians, evacuation of the sick and wounded, and withdrawal […]

Syria

In the News

Oct 16, 2016

Slavin Joins CBC Radio to Discuss the Possibility of a Solution to the Syria Crisis

By Barbara Slavin

Listen to the full discussion here.

Syria

In the News

Oct 14, 2016

Hof Quoted by The Carnegie Middle East Center on Donald Trump’s Policies on Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Read the full article here.

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 14, 2016

The Symbolic War of Fatwas among Rebels in Syria and Its Implications

By Haid Haid

The ongoing Turkish-led Euphrates Shield operation against the Islamic State (ISIS), backed with allied Syrian rebel groups and US air cover, has led opposition groups to issue a number of competing fatwas (religious rulings). Ahrar al-Sham issued a fatwa considering it permissible to participate in this operation under the Turkish flag. Two days later, Jabhat Fateh […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 13, 2016

Islamist Groups Ahrar al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa Go to War

By Saleem al-Omar

A state of tension and outright war between Ahrar al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, two Islamist groups, prevails in Idlib and the countryside around Hama. Conflict between the two groups intensified soon after a security battalion from Ahrar al-Sham detained an ISIS cell in Saraqib in Idlib province that, according to Ahrar al-Sham, received orders directly […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Oct 13, 2016

ISIS’ Next Stop

By Feras Hanoush

The Islamic State (ISIS) has expanded the territory under their control, which is now larger than the area of the United Kingdom, but this has come at the cost of exposing itself on all sides to enemies and hindering its ability to control its territory.

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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