Featured reading

#5YearsWeFled: Cutting Ties to the Past

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

#5YearsWeFled: Cutting Ties to the Past

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

#5YearsWeFled: Cutting Ties to the Past

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

#5YearsWeFled: Cutting Ties to the Past

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

#5YearsWeFled: Cutting Ties to the Past

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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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.

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Content

SyriaSource

Mar 22, 2016

#5YearsWeFled: Cutting Ties to the Past

By Ayman Jalwan

This is the second part of a series of interviews with the lawyer Ayman Jalwan. It highlights the difficult choice that Syrians face—dying in the war zone that Syria had become, or fleeing the land they love. Last year, Ayman Jalwan and his wife said goodbye to their families and joined the wave of citizens […]

Syria

MENASource

Mar 21, 2016

The Problem with the Obama Doctrine

By H.A. Hellyer

The ‘Obama Doctrine’ is finally taking shape—with The Atlantic magazine revealing its most salient points through a series of conversations with the US president—but the insights are not all flattering, not least when it comes to the Arab world.

Iraq Libya

SyriaSource

Mar 21, 2016

Top News: March 21, 2016

By SyriaSource

– Pro-regime fighters killed battling ISIS near Palmyra – Syria peace talks grind toward pivotal Assad question – Death toll climbs from air strikes on ISIS-held Raqqa – Russia says might use force against ceasefire violators in Syria – Suicide bomber kills four, wounds 36 in Istanbul shopping district – EU-Turkey deal to return refugees from Greece comes into force

Syria

In the News

Mar 19, 2016

Hof Quoted by Hurriyet Daily News on Putin’s Strategy in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Read the full article here.

Syria

In the News

Mar 19, 2016

Hof Quoted in Defense News on Russia’s Foreign Policy Intentions in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Read the full article here.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Mar 18, 2016

Can Japan Help End the War in Syria?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Interview with Kota Suechika of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan Japan can use its good relationships with various actors in the Syrian civil war to help end the conflict that this month entered its sixth year, according to Kota Suechika, a professor at the College of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. Japan’s […]

Japan Syria

In the News

Mar 18, 2016

Stein Joins WHYY’s Radio Times to Discuss EU Deal with Turkey on Syrian Migrants

By Aaron Stein

Listen to the full story here.

European Union International Organizations

In the News

Mar 18, 2016

Farkas Quoted by The Washington Post on Russia’s Military Strategy

By Evelyn Farkas

Read the full article here.

Russia Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 18, 2016

Top News: March 18, 2016

By SyriaSource

– ISIS claims killing of five Russian troops killed near Palmyra– UN seeks to reach over 1 million besieged Syrians in six weeks– UN envoy urges clear proposals from Damascus at Syria talks – White House says ready to help ICC genocide probe in Syria, Iraq– Bomb kills policeman in southeast Turkey

Syria

SyriaSource

Mar 18, 2016

ISIS and Genocide: A Narrow Approach to Mass Murder in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

It is right and proper that the US House of Representatives (by a vote of 393 to zero) and the Obama administration have declared that the Islamic State (ISIL, ISIS, Daesh) is employing genocide in its effort to fill vacuums of political legitimacy in Syria and Iraq. As Secretary of State John Kerry accurately noted […]

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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