Recent analysis

After Years of Cuts, Obama Proposes Increasing US Defense Budget

New Atlanticist
Dec 17, 2024

Dispatch from Damascus: Celebrations and concerns as a new Syria takes shape

By
Ömer Özkizilcik

Syrians in Damascus are celebrating the fall of the Assad regime, but that joy is mixed with concern for how the country’s new leaders will govern.

Conflict
Crisis Management

After Years of Cuts, Obama Proposes Increasing US Defense Budget

MENASource
Jun 20, 2025

On World Refugee Day, complexities persist for Syrian returnees

By
Sinan Hatahet

While Syria’s political shift brings new hope, it also highlights the complex realities that still define the Syrian landscape.

Middle East
Migration

After Years of Cuts, Obama Proposes Increasing US Defense Budget

MENASource
Jun 10, 2025

Why DDR programs are the missing link to Syrian stability

By
Muhsen al-Mustafa

With the end of Western sanctions, Syria faces a rare opportunity to address the imbalances of the post-conflict period.

Middle East
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

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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Former fellow


Qutaiba Idlbi


Former Resident Senior Fellow, Syria

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economic Sanctions
Entrepreneurship

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Michel Duclos


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Conflict
Crisis Management

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Arwa Damon


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
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Ömer Özkizilcik


Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
English

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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

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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

Content

President Barack Obama at Osan Air Base, Nov. 19, 2009

NATOSource

Jan 27, 2015

After Years of Cuts, Obama Proposes Increasing US Defense Budget

By Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

The Obama administration will propose a defense spending increase to levels not seen since 2012 when it sends Congress a $585 billion Pentagon budget request on Monday.

Afghanistan Iraq

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2015

As the ISIS Wars Uproot Millions, Iraq’s Kurdish Region Faces a Flood of Human Misery

By Bina Hussein

Of 2 Million Refugees in Kurdish Zone, Most Languish Outside Camps, With Little or No Aid Amid the world attention focused on 3.8 million Syrians uprooted by the violent spread of the ISIS Islamist army, a little-noted part of that crisis is the flood of perhaps 2 million refugees from both Syria and Iraq into […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Jan 24, 2015

What 2015 Holds for the Middle East

By Nabeel Khoury

In “The Arab Cold War Revisited,” published in Middle East Policy 2013, I suggested that Arab monarchies, authoritarian republics, and Islamist forces comprised the three main axes competing for power in the Middle East. I argued that the competition would likely continue until the more radical Islamists were defeated and the state systems went back […]

Iraq Middle East

In the News

Jan 21, 2015

Saab: Hezbollah Hesitates?

By Bilal Saab

Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab cowrites for Foreign Affairs with Daniel Byman on the Syrian conflict and Hezbollah:

Middle East Syria

MENASource

Jan 21, 2015

Syria: The Policy Cul-De-Sac

By Frederic C. Hof

US policy toward Syria is stalled in a cul-de-sac. It occupies the strategic low ground between an August 2011 presidential call for Bashar al-Assad to step aside, the June 2014 eruption of the Assad-conjured Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) into Iraq from Syria, and the administration’s resolute reluctance to act in accordance with a fundamental […]

Syria

MENASource

Jan 20, 2015

Moscow’s Syria Talks: Diplomacy that Destroys Hopes for Peace

By Bassam Barabandi

The White House recently held meetings to decide on whether to participate in Russian plans for fresh Syria peace talks in Moscow. Moscow has described these talks in vague terms—as “consultations and preparatory contact” between the “constructive opposition and the Syrian Government.”

Syria

In the News

Jan 20, 2015

Saab: “This Is a New Hezbollah”

By Bilal Saab

International Business Times quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab on the recent raid Israel carried out on senior Hezbollah figures:

Middle East Syria

MENASource

Jan 16, 2015

Yemen and Syria: Making the Same Mistakes Twice

By Danya Greenfield and Faysal Itani

The recent statement from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen claiming responsibility for directing the brutal Paris attack should refocus some attention on the shortsighted approach of current US counterterrorism efforts across the region.

Syria Yemen
FSA rebels cleaning their AK47s, Oct. 19, 2012

NATOSource

Jan 16, 2015

US To Send 400 Trainers and Hundreds More Troops to Train Syrian Rebels

By Gordon Lubold, Defense One

The Pentagon will deploy more than 400 U.S. military trainers and hundreds more supporting personnel to four training sites in three countries as early as March as part of a long-awaited plan to help rebel forces to stabilize Syria.

Saudi Arabia Syria

MENASource

Jan 15, 2015

The Temptation of the Lesser Evil in Syria

By Marcel Kurpershoek

Marcel Kurpershoek served as the Netherlands’ Special Envoy to Syria from August 2013 through December 2014. Ambassador Kurpershoek is a well-respected Dutch Arabist, and was ambassador for the Netherlands in Poland, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also served as a diplomat in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Before leaving his post as envoy, Kurpershoek delivered remarks […]

Syria
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Experts

Fellow

Marie Forestier 

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic French

Fellow

Ibrahim Al-Assil

Resident Senior Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Conflict

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
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