Featured reading

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.

Featured experts

Leadership

Fellows

Past events

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.

Sign up for all the latest updates!

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

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


Content

MENASource

Mar 25, 2015

Iran’s Free Pass in the Region

By Frederic C. Hof

In his recent Nowruz address to the people of Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said something I have heard more than once from Iranian counterparts in track two (unofficial) discussions: “The negotiations with America are about the nuclear program and nothing else, everyone should know this . . .

Iran Syria

In the News

Mar 24, 2015

Itani on the Quiet Ascent of the Nusra Front in Syria

The AP quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on the rise of the Nusra Front, Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate:

Syria

In the News

Mar 19, 2015

Itani on the Fight Against ISIS in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani joins Al Jazeera to discuss the switch in US focus in Syria from President Bashar al-Assad to ISIS and how the fighters being trained to combat ISIS will interact with the Assad regime:

Syria

In the News

Mar 19, 2015

Hof on US Drone Strikes in Syria

By Frederic Hof

The Washington Post quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the US drone believed to have been shot down in Syria:

Syria

MENASource

Mar 17, 2015

Is Assad’s Departure a “Legitimate Concern?”

By Frederic C. Hof

CIA Director John Brennan told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday, March 13 that the near-term collapse of Syria’s Assad regime raises “a legitimate concern” about the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) and other jihadist extremists capitalizing on it.

Syria

MENASource

Mar 16, 2015

Syria at Four Years

By Frederic C. Hof

In March 2011 Bashar al-Assad elected to respond to peaceful protests against police brutality with lethal violence. Was this a choice he made freely and consciously? Or was he obliged by his security chieftains to beat, shoot, incarcerate, and torture protesters?

Syria
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Jan. 22, 2014

NATOSource

Mar 12, 2015

Germany’s Foreign Minister: The Transatlantic Order is Under Challenge

By Frank-Walter Steinmeier, New York Times

Today, the trans-Atlantic bond is being tested again. Crises are erupting ever closer to the European Union’s borders:

European Union Germany
Gen. Martin Dempsey and Gen. Pierre de Villiers aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, March 8, 2015

NATOSource

Mar 9, 2015

For the First Time, France Puts Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle Under US Command

By Missy Ryan, Washington Post

When Gen. Martin Dempsey’s plane touched down Sunday on the deck of this ship, he became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in recent history — perhaps ever — to set foot on a French aircraft carrier, a sign of the two nations’ increasing operational unity in the campaign against the Islamic […]

France Iraq

In the News

Mar 7, 2015

Mardini on ISIS’s Expansion Strategy

By Ramzy Mardini

The Sydney Morning Herald quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Ramzy Mardini on ISIS’s expansion in areas with weak or non-existent state institutions and what that means for the fight against them:

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Mar 6, 2015

Gender and the Jihadist: Radical Islam and Women

By Rola el-Husseini

The approach of International Women’s Day on March 8 prompts some reflection not only on the difficulties women face in the Middle East, but also their changing roles in conflict and religion. As religious extremism dominates the headlines, subtle shifts in how women engage with this phenomenon begin to emerge.

Iraq Middle East

Experts