Featured reading

Hof on the Iran Deal, Yemen, and Syria

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 the Iran Deal, Yemen, and Syria

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 the Iran Deal, Yemen, and Syria

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 the Iran Deal, Yemen, and Syria

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 the Iran Deal, Yemen, and Syria

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.

EXPLORE THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL’S MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMS

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Content

In the News

Apr 4, 2015

Hof on the Iran Deal, Yemen, and Syria

By Frederic Hof

Hurriyet Daily News quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on US policy in the Middle East and how the nuclear deal with Iran is interconnected with the conflicts in Yemen and Syria:

Iran Syria

In the News

Apr 3, 2015

Hof on the US Training Program for Syrian Fighters

By Frederic Hof

The Washington Post quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the US training program for Syrian fighters and the Assad regime:

Syria

MENASource

Apr 3, 2015

Syria: An Opportunity in Idlib

By Mohammed Alaa Ghanem

Last weekend, international headlines blared that Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, had captured the northern Syrian city of Idlib from Assad regime forces. Idlib was once a major hub for pro-democracy protests and for protests in support of the US-endorsed Free Syrian Army.

Syria

MENASource

Apr 2, 2015

The State of the Islamic State

By Mona Alami

The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) has upped this ante this month, conducting a series of attacks in a number of Arab countries. While the operations in Syria, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen pursue the organization’s goal of destabilizing the region, the ISIS escalation also means to display its strength for its supporters.

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Apr 1, 2015

Syria: Moving Beyond the “International Community”

By Frederic C. Hof

The March 31 Kuwait City words of the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Samantha Power, to the Third International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, were powerful and direct.

Syria

MENASource

Apr 1, 2015

Foreign Aid is Good, But Not Enough for Syria

By Raquel Vazquez Llorente

Almost eighty countries and more than forty international organizations gathered in Kuwait to pledge aid money for the crisis in Syria. The United Nations estimates the humanitarian needs in $8.4 billion, raising about half that amount at the conference.

Syria
U.S. Patriot missiles stand guard over Gaziantep, Turkey in 2013

NATOSource

Mar 27, 2015

NATO Says Syrian Rocket Landed in Part of Turkey Not Protected by Patriot Batteries

By Denis Arslan, Today's Zaman

A NATO official has said a Syrian rocket that landed close to a Turkish military unit and slightly wounded five people on Wednesday was outside the areas covered by the current Patriot configuration in Turkey.

Missile Defense NATO

In the News

Mar 27, 2015

Itani on the Propaganda Campaign against ISIS

By Faysal Itani

Al Jazeera quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on the propaganda pamphlets dropped over Raqqa in the campaign against ISIS:

Syria

MENASource

Mar 27, 2015

Shifting to a Syria-First Approach

By Frederic C. Hof

The stunning decision of the US government to provide combat air support for Iranian-led Shia Iraqi militiamen fighting to liberate the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) illustrates why Washington and its partners should shift now to a Syria-first anti-ISIL strategy.

Iran Syria

Article

Mar 26, 2015

Opinion: A Fourth Arab Country Melts Down

By Barbara Slavin

Reports on Wednesday that the president of Yemen has fled his country underline the latest crisis to strike the state system in the Middle East. Three other Arab nations – Libya, Syria and Iraq – are already fractured among religious, ethnic and tribal groups, with fighting exacerbated by outsiders bankrolling and arming proxies.

Iraq Libya
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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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