Featured reading

Farkas Joins CNN to Discuss Syria Talks

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

Farkas Joins CNN to Discuss Syria Talks

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

Farkas Joins CNN to Discuss Syria Talks

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

Farkas Joins CNN to Discuss Syria Talks

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

Farkas Joins CNN to Discuss Syria Talks

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

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

Public Event
Mon, March 18, 2024 • 1:00 pm ET

The Syria Strategy Project: A public launch

Civil Society
Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity
Human Rights

Online Event
Mon, February 12, 2024 • 12:00 pm ET

One year on: Assessing the February 6th earthquake response in Syria

Civil Society
Economy & Business
Human Rights
International Organizations

Online Event
Fri, May 31, 2024 • 9:30 am ET

Serving communities with disability in conflict contexts

Civil Society
Conflict
Crisis Management
Human Rights

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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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Content

In the News

Jun 2, 2016

Farkas Joins CNN to Discuss Syria Talks

By Evelyn Farkas

Read the full article here.

Syria

In the News

Jun 2, 2016

Itani, Stein Join VOA Turkish Service to Discuss Turkish-US Cooperation in Syria

By Aaron Stein & Faysal Itani

Watch the full video here.

Syria Turkey

SyriaSource

Jun 2, 2016

Between the Jurisprudence of Blood and the Management of Savagery: Islamic State Advances Terror Methods

By Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently

Ever since the Hollywood-style execution of US journalist James Foley, the Islamic State (ISIS) continues to surprise those that analyze the group with its criminal propaganda throughout the world. On close scrutiny, the Hollywood-style executions by the Islamic State are not just a way to humiliate and celebrate the pain of its enemies, but are […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 1, 2016

Holding Territory Taken From ISIS in the Manbij Pocket

By Aaron Stein

The United States and its closest partner in the Syrian conflict, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have begun an offensive to take the northern city of Manbij from the Islamic State (ISIS). On May 31 and June 1, the coalition conducted 27 strikes in the area, according to the Coalition’s daily strike update press release. […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jun 1, 2016

In the Wake of the Jabla and Tartous Bombings

By Saleem al-Omar

The explosions on Monday, May 23 killed up to 150 people in the cities of Jabla and Tartous, in an attack that surprised both the regime and opposition. For the last three years, the opposition has launched missile strikes against these coastal cities without causing the same level of damage, at most killing a few […]

Syria

SyriaSource

May 31, 2016

#5YearsWeFled: Syrian Hospitality

By Ayman Jalwan

We were warned about Hungary: my friends had warned me that it was very dangerous there, and that the authorities in Hungary are really bad to refugees. I had heard this from my friends who traveled through before us: they were arrested in Hungary and put in jail for one month. The authorities beat them, […]

Syria

In the News

May 30, 2016

Itani Quoted by the Associated Press on the state of ISIS in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Read the full article here.

Syria

In the News

May 30, 2016

Taylor and Stein in War on the Rocks: Revisiting Train-And-Equip in Syria to Clear the Manbij Pocket

By Taylor and Stein

Read the full article here.

Syria

In the News

May 28, 2016

Hof Quoted by The National on US Middle East Policy

By Fred Hof

Read the full article here.

Syria

MENASource

May 27, 2016

What an Islamic State Offensive in Aleppo means for US Policy

By Faysal Itani

On May 26 the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) launched a successful westward offensive in Syria’s northern Aleppo countryside. ISIS effectively encircled thousands of insurgent fighters in the town of Marea and is now less than 2 miles from the critical opposition-held city of Azaz. Although ISIS only seized six villages and may yet lose […]

Syria Turkey
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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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