Syria

Syria

Syria stands at a pivotal juncture as it charts a path following the fall of the Assad regime. Syria’s new government faces the task of rebuilding a shattered economy and establishing state institutions capable of managing a diverse and war-affected population. A durable US-Syria partnership depends on sustained cooperation across reconstruction, governance, and Syria’s reintegration.

Featured commentary & analysis

al-Kattan in Syria Studies: Mapping the Ailing (but Resilient) Syrian Banking Sector

MENASource
Jul 1, 2026

The US is sending Syrian asylees back. Syria isn’t ready.

By
Diana Rayes 

The US Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the Trump administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status programs crates a troubling global precedent.

Migration
Syria

al-Kattan in Syria Studies: Mapping the Ailing (but Resilient) Syrian Banking Sector

MENASource
May 4, 2026

Syria needs a trustworthy digital ecosystem to support its revival

By
Nadia Farra

Robust digital infrastructure, digital literacy, and cybersecurity are no longer luxuries for high-income nations but fundamental requirements for national stability and economic resilience.

Freedom and Prosperity
Inclusive Growth

al-Kattan in Syria Studies: Mapping the Ailing (but Resilient) Syrian Banking Sector

MENASource
Feb 20, 2026

Syria is not Libya, but it could become one if the world looks away

By
Kurt Davis Jr.

There are lessons from Libya’s fragmentation and collapse that can be applied now as Syria sits at a similar inflection point.

Conflict
Libya

Programs

Syria Project

The Syria Project advances policy engagement and international partnerships during a pivotal political transition. It serves as a leading platform for independent analysis and high-level dialogue on US-Syria relations, economic recovery, governance, and regional reintegration, leveraging deep networks across Washington, Damascus, and the broader Middle East.

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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

In the News

Jan 1, 2015

al-Kattan in Syria Studies: Mapping the Ailing (but Resilient) Syrian Banking Sector

By Rashad al-Kattan

Read the full article here.

Syria

In the News

Dec 26, 2014

Slavin on Russia, Cuba, Syria

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin joins Voice of America’s Issues in the News to discuss latest developments in Russia, Syria, Iraq, and Cuba: 

Russia Syria

MENASource

Dec 24, 2014

ISIS’s Governance Crisis (Part II): Social Services

By Mona Alami

In its fourth issue of its English-language newsletter Dabig, the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) boasted that a “state cannot be established” unless it looked after both the “worldly and the religious needs” of Muslims. With that specific goal in mind, ISIS has entrenched itself in the daily life of residents of the region straddling […]

Iraq Syria

In the News

Dec 22, 2014

Hof on the “Analyst in Chief”

By Frederic C. Hof

Reuters quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof on US policy toward Syria: 

Syria

In the News

Dec 22, 2014

Slavin: United States to Accept Syrian Refugees for Resettlement

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Al-Monitor on the Syrian refugee situation:

Syria

MENASource

Dec 19, 2014

2015: The Year of the Syrian People

By Frederic C. Hof

2014, like the three years preceding it, was a year of horror, terror, and hardship for millions of Syrians, the overwhelming majority of whom—Arab and Kurdish, Sunni, Alawite, Christian, Druze, Ismaili, and Shia—were innocent victims of heartless, criminal violence: most, though not all, orchestrated by Bashar al-Assad and his clan-based regime.

Syria

MENASource

Dec 19, 2014

ISIS’s Governance Crisis (Part I): Economic Governance

By Mona Alami

Last summer, the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIl or ISIS) consolidated its control over large swaths of Syrian and Iraqi territory. The terrorist nebula has seen a rapid transformation, consolidating its grip through recruitment, fear, and the imposition of social policy in an attempt at governance.

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Dec 18, 2014

Syria: Hope for De-Escalation

By Frederic C. Hof

Hope springs eternal in the Obama administration that a Deus ex machina in the form of a diplomatic process producing military de-escalation and Syrian political transition will enter unbidden from stage left and relieve the West of any obligation to counter the Assad regime’s systematic program of mass murder.  President Barack Obama, quite properly, has […]

Syria

MENASource

Dec 15, 2014

Syria: The Diplomatic Placebo

By Frederic C. Hof

Ambassador Brett McGurk, the deputy to anti-Islamic State (anti-ISIS or -ISIL) coalition coordinator General John Allen, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on December 10, “We do not see a situation in which the [nationalist] rebels are able to remove Assad from power … It will have to be a diplomatic process.”

Syria

In the News

Dec 8, 2014

Hof on Syria: “There’s No Fairy Dust”

By Frederic C. Hof

The New Yorker quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof on the ongoing civil war in Syria:

Syria
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Experts

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 Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Colin Brooks

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Iran Middle East

Fellow

Lesley Chavkin

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative GeoEconomics Center

Africa Economy & Business

Fellow

Hagar Hajjar Chemali

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative GeoEconomics Center

Economy & Business Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Fellow

Arwa Damon

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society
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