Featured reading

Reflections on the Why and How of Syria’s Elections

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

Reflections on the Why and How of Syria’s Elections

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

Reflections on the Why and How of Syria’s Elections

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

Reflections on the Why and How of Syria’s Elections

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

Reflections on the Why and How of Syria’s Elections

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.

LEARN MORE

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

Event Recap

Oct 30, 2023

Addressing the captagon crisis in MENA: Strategies & Challenges

By
Diane Mohamed and Rachel Friedman

The Syria Program hosted a panel discussion taking stock of current captagon landscape in Syria and captagon’s place within the global illicit supply chain.

Corruption
Crisis Management

Public Event
Thu, September 28, 2023 • 12:20 pm ET

Addressing the captagon crisis in MENA: Strategies & challenges

Civil Society
Corruption
Economy & Business
Freedom and Prosperity

Public Event
Wed, July 19, 2023 • 9:00 am ET

How can the United States counter normalization with Assad in the Middle East

Civil Society
Human Rights
International Organizations
Middle East

Load More

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

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

Jun 12, 2014

Reflections on the Why and How of Syria’s Elections

By Aya Majzoub

The farcical Syrian presidential election, held in the midst of a bloody civil war, is unlikely to radically alter the dynamics on the battlefield inside Syria or convince Assad’s opponents of his democratic legitimacy. However, it would be a dangerous miscalculation to dismiss its significance; a mistake Secretary of State John Kerry recently committed in […]

Syria

MENASource

Jun 12, 2014

For ISIS, Iraq’s Spoils Could Tip Balance in Eastern Syria

By Karen Leigh

Photos depicting militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) driving US-made armored vehicles across the Iraqi border into the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor could prove that the porous border between Iraq and Syria is now an open road for ISIS fighters hoping to establish a Sunni caliphate in the region.

Iraq Syria

In the News

Jun 12, 2014

Mardini on How Syrian Crisis Affects Iraq Instability

By Ramzy Mardini

CNN quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Ramzy Mardini on how the success of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has fed into its recent agression in Iraq:

Iraq Syria

In the News

Jun 12, 2014

Hof: “A Course Correction [on Syria] Is Under Consideration”

By Frederic C. Hof

The Washington Post quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the administration’s Syria policy, particularly in light of President Obama’s West Point address on May 28:

Syria

MENASource

Jun 11, 2014

The United States Should Reconsider the Kurds

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

The United States has opposed Kurdish ambitions in both in Iraq and Syria for more autonomy, citing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Iraqi and Syrian state.

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Jun 10, 2014

Syria: Can the United States and Iran Reach an Understanding?

By Frederic C. Hof

Two days of very frank and worthwhile “track two” discussions between senior Iranian and US non-officials recently took place in Europe. Syria was, as it had been in the previous December round of talks, a major topic of discussion.

Syria

In the News

Jun 10, 2014

Hof on US State Department Support for Aiding Syrian Rebels

By Frederic Hof

The New York Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on how many State Department officials working on Syrian issues believe the United States should be doing more to assist nationalist rebels:

Syria

MENASource

Jun 6, 2014

Lebanon: Being the Daughter of the Resistance

By Hanin Ghaddar

Hanin Ghaddar, the Beirut-based Managing Editor of NOW, recently published an eloquent but hauntingly sad account of the status of Lebanese Shia who disagree publicly with the policies and ideology dictated by the leadership cadre of Hezbollah.

Iran Middle East

MENASource

Jun 4, 2014

Dispatch: Kurds Prevent Presidential Elections in Northern Syria

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

On June 3, the Assad regime held presidential elections in the parts of Syria it still controls. In Northern Syria, however, Kurdish security forces confiscated the ballot boxes. Serbest Rezan, responsible for the Kurdish security police in the city of Qamishli, said they confiscated at least 120 polling stations.

Syria

MENASource

Jun 4, 2014

Syria: False Election, True Critique

By Frederic C. Hof

Yesterday, June 3, was make-believe election day in that part of Syria where Iran props up Bashar al-Assad as president-in-name of a broken Syrian Arab Republic. A shoe brush entrepreneur and a tamed communist dutifully played their assigned roles as ballot alternatives to Mr. Assad, albeit with open, deferential reverence toward the man who has […]

Syria
Load More

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
Load More