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Losing Syria and Iraq to jihadists

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
Losing Syria and Iraq to jihadists

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
Losing Syria and Iraq to jihadists

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

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Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

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Arabic Economic Sanctions

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Former Nonresident Senior Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

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Nonresident Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

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Content

Issue Brief

Jun 27, 2014

Losing Syria and Iraq to jihadists

By Faysal Itani

Jihadists in Iraq and Syria, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) are capturing cities, energy assets, and military hardware daily. They now control a territory the size of Jordan and are building a state from which they aspire and are increasingly able to attack US regional interests, allies, and the United […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Jun 26, 2014

Will Hezbollah Expand Operations to Iraq?

By Karen Leigh

Lebanese security forces stormed the third-floor room of a suicide bomber at the Duroy Hotel in the upscale Beirut neighborhood of Raouche on June 25. They said it was a preventative measure, that the bomber—who blew himself up when police arrived—would have done it elsewhere, later.

Iraq Middle East

In the News

Jun 26, 2014

Hof on Aid to Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof joins BBC World News to discuss President Obama’s proposal for Congress to approve the sending of $500 million in aid to moderate Syrian rebels:

Syria

In the News

Jun 26, 2014

Saab: Assad’s Priority is to Fight Rebels in His Own Country

By Bilal Y. Saab

The Associated Press quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab on the Syrian government aircraft bombing of Sunni militant targets inside Iraq:

Iraq Syria

In the News

Jun 24, 2014

Itani on the Effects of Iraq Crisis on Jordan

By Faysal Itani

Monitor Global Outlook quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on the impact Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria may have on stability in Jordan:

Iraq Syria
US Patriot missile battery in Turkey, February 4, 2013

NATOSource

Jun 23, 2014

NATO Allies Mull Ending Patriot Mission in Turkey

By World Bulletin

NATO allies have started preliminary consultations on concluding the Patriot missile mission in Turkey at the end of 2014, German media reported on Sunday.

Germany Missile Defense

MENASource

Jun 20, 2014

Syria: Farmers, Teachers, Pharmacists, and Dentists

By Frederic C. Hof

In his June 19 press remarks about the situation in Iraq, President Barack Obama was asked whether the expansion of Syria’s war into Iraq courtesy of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had changed his mind about the urgency of providing meaningful military assistance to Syrian nationalists ready and willing to fight jihadists […]

Syria

MENASource

Jun 19, 2014

Syria and Iraq: The “Skyes-Picot” Issue

By Frederic C. Hof

The violent convulsions gripping Syria and Iraq have given rise to the argument that the “Sykes-Picot” boundaries imposed by France and Britain in the Levant and Mesopotamia after the First World War will have to be redrawn to recognize and reconcile ethnic and sectarian divisions papered over by the Great War’s victorious allies.  As someone […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Jun 17, 2014

ISIS Terrorists: Should Tehran and Washington Cooperate?

By Frederic C. Hof

Military success in Iraq by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has concentrated the minds of political leaders in Washington and Tehran.  Neither the United States nor Iran wishes to see ISIS or any Al-Qaeda franchise prosper or even exist in Iraq.  Neither Washington nor Tehran wishes to see Iraq splinter into multiple […]

Iran Iraq

In the News

Jun 16, 2014

Itani: To Save Iraq, Look to Syria

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani writes for US News and World Report on why supporting Syria’s moderate opposition will undermine militants from the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant:

Iraq Syria
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Marie Forestier 

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic French

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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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