Featured reading

Implementing the President’s New Syria Policy

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

Implementing the President’s New Syria Policy

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

Implementing the President’s New Syria Policy

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

Implementing the President’s New Syria Policy

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

Implementing the President’s New Syria Policy

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

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Content

MENASource

Nov 7, 2014

Implementing the President’s New Syria Policy

By Frederic C. Hof

On October 14, 2014 President Barack Obama signaled a profound shift in American policy toward Syria.  He told foreign chiefs of defense at Andrews Joint Base that beating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL and the Islamic State) in Syria will “require us developing and strengthening a moderate opposition […]

Syria

MENASource

Nov 5, 2014

Why Training Is Still More Important Than Airstrikes in Syria and Iraq

By Daniel DePetris

More than two months into the US and coalition air campaign, Obama administration officials and members of the US military’s senior leadership are confident that “Operation Inherent Resolve” is having the intended effect against the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL).

Syria

MENASource

Nov 4, 2014

Will a Change in the Senate Lead to a Change in Syria Policy?

By Jason T. Hunt

As Americans flock to the polls today, predictions increasingly favor Republicans to win the 2014-midterm elections. Although Democrats hold out hope to retain control of the Senate, the odds in Republicans’ favor encourage serious thought about how the policy choices of a Republican Senate may or may not differ from the policies of today’s Democratic […]

Syria
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Sept. 27, 2012

NATOSource

Nov 4, 2014

French Foreign Minister: Anti-ISIL Coalition Must Also Save 300,000 Lives In Aleppo

By Laurent Fabius, Washington Post

Syria’s second-largest city and part of humanity’s ancient heritage, Aleppo is the martyred center of the resistance to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,

France Iraq

MENASource

Nov 4, 2014

What Went Wrong in Idlib?

By Faysal Itani

Last week, Syria’s mainstream opposition suffered a major defeat in its heartland of Idlib province, northern Syria. The al-Qaeda-aligned Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN) captured several key towns from the US-backed Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Harakat al Hazm, with some fighters defecting to JAN.

Syria

MENASource

Nov 3, 2014

What Would the Turkish Buffer Zone Mean for Syria’s Displaced?

By Matthew Hall, a Q&A with Elizabeth Ferris

In September, the radical jihadist group ISIS launched a major offensive in northeastern Syria, overrunning scores of Kurdish villages along the warpath to Kobani, a strategic town on the Turkish border.

Syria Turkey

In the News

Oct 30, 2014

Hof: The US Plan in Syria Is a “Tough Sell”

By Frederic C. Hof

The Los Angeles Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof on the US strategy for combating the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham:

Syria

In the News

Oct 30, 2014

Hof on the US “Goldilocks” Approach in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof joins NPR Morning Edition to discuss US policy in Syria:

Syria

MENASource

Oct 29, 2014

ISIS Control Over Eastern Syria More Fragile Than You Might Think

By Mona Alami

Syria observers have balked at the rapid growth of capabilities and territory acquired by the Islamic State in Iraq al-Sham (ISIS, ISIL, or Islamic State) as it confronts global powers on many fronts. But ISIS’s successes in eastern Syria cannot be explained from a military and ideological standpoint alone.

Syria

In the News

Oct 29, 2014

Ricciardone on the US-Turkey Relationship

By Francis Ricciardone

The Washington Post quotes VP and Rafik Hariri Center Director Francis Ricciardone on how the crisis in Syria has affected the US-Turkish relationship:

Syria Turkey
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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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