Featured reading

Hof on What the Syrian Rebel Gains Really Mean

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 on What the Syrian Rebel Gains Really Mean

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 on What the Syrian Rebel Gains Really Mean

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 on What the Syrian Rebel Gains Really Mean

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 on What the Syrian Rebel Gains Really Mean

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

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.

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Content

In the News

May 1, 2015

Hof on What the Syrian Rebel Gains Really Mean

By Frederic Hof

Foreign Policy interviews Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on whether the recent gains by Syrian rebels are signaling an end to Bashar al-Assad’s regime:

Syria

MENASource

May 1, 2015

Egypt’s Responsibility in the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis

By Mohamed Abdel Salam

As the season of migration via the Mediterranean begins, public policy discussions by Egyptian authorities on Syrian refugees have become increasingly important. Since the start of the year, over 1,750 refugees have died making the treacherous journey, attempting to leave the coasts of Africa for a better future in Europe. Syrians by far outnumber any […]

North Africa Syria

In the News

Apr 30, 2015

Itani on the Current Syria Strategy

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani joins Voice of America’s International Edition to discuss why the current Syria strategy isn’t working and the proposals he outlines in a new report, “Defeating the Jihadists in Syria: Competition before Confrontation:”

Syria

SyriaSource

Apr 29, 2015

US-led Coalition Needs to Rethink Its Anti-Jihadist Strategy in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Insurgents captured the strategically important town of Jisr al Shughour from regime forces on April 25. This followed a rebel takeover of the provincial capital of Idlib, a mere few weeks earlier. Significantly, while only one of many members of the coalition that took Idlib and Jisr al Shughour, the Nusra Front played a critical […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Apr 28, 2015

Is Assad Losing Control?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council report suggests more US support for ‘nationalist opposition’ in Syria Iran has fueled the war in Syria by providing a steady stream of assistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but his regime is gradually losing control, says Robert S. Ford, a former US Ambassador to Syria. “I think we would have been able […]

Syria

Event Recap

Apr 28, 2015

Defeating the Jihadists in Syria: Competition before Confrontation

On Tuesday, April 28, 2015, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East released Fellow Faysal Itani’s issue in focus, “Defeating the Jihadists in Syria: Competition before Confrontation,” and hosted a discussion on nationalist or moderate insurgent forces in Syria, the problems that they currently face, and prospects of strengthening these forces. Kim […]

Syria

Webcasts

Apr 28, 2015

Defeating the Jihadists in Syria: Competition before Confrontation

By Rafik Hariri Center

Please join us on April 28, 2015 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a presentation of the findings in a new Atlantic Council report entitled, “Defeating the Jihadists in Syria: Competition before Confrontation.”

Syria

MENASource

Apr 27, 2015

Syria: Is Assad Slipping?

By Frederic C. Hof

Recent tactical setbacks by Assad regime forces in northwestern Syria are reviving—for the first time since early 2013—fin du régime hopes and speculation. Reporting from the region suggests that arms transfers from Gulf powers and Turkey are enabling rebels to overcome exhausted and exposed Syrian Arab Army units.

Syria

In the News

Apr 27, 2015

Slavin: Hariri: Late Syrian Security Chief Tried to Speak Out

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Al Monitor on the fatal beating of former Syrian Intelligence Chief in Lebanon Rustom Ghazaleh:

Middle East Syria

Issue Brief

Apr 27, 2015

Defeating the jihadists in Syria: Competition before confrontation

By Faysal Itani

Since August 2014, the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has successfully inflicted casualties on ISIS and weakened its oil revenues. However, the same efforts have also accelerated the rise of the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, and the near-collapse of nationalist rebel forces. In “Defeating the Jihadists in […]

Syria Terrorism
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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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