Featured reading

President Jarba Visits the Council

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

President Jarba Visits the Council

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

President Jarba Visits the Council

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

President Jarba Visits the Council

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

President Jarba Visits the Council

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.


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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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Content

Event Recap

May 8, 2014

President Jarba Visits the Council

By The Atlantic Council

On May 8, 2014, the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted President Ahmad Jarba of the Syrian National Coalition and his delegation for a private, off-the-record discussion.

Syria

New Atlanticist

May 8, 2014

Jarba, Syrian Opposition Council Pushes for US Support

By Barbara Slavin

On his first visit to Washington this week, Ahmad Jarba, president of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), has faced a daunting challenge: convincing the Obama administration that his organization deserves more support, including lethal weaponry, to counteract the brutal tactics of a regime that appears to be winning Syria’s three-year-old civil war.

Syria

In the News

May 7, 2014

Ullman: America Strikes Out (Again!)

By Harlan Ullman

Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for UPI on what solutions exist for the United States to handle issues ranging from the economy to Ukraine and the war in Syria:

Syria Ukraine

MENASource

May 5, 2014

Syria: No Cogent Alternatives

By Frederic C. Hof

In its May 4, 2014 editorial “President Obama and the World,” The New York Times employed a customary administration talking point in an otherwise balanced and even critical review of the president’s foreign policy stewardship, including his handling of the Syria crisis: “His critics are inconsistent in their philosophies [i.e. some want airstrikes, some want more weapons […]

Syria

In the News

May 5, 2014

Itani: New Diplomatic Status is a “Blow” to Assad

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani is quoted by McClatchy on US efforts to rebrand the Syrian opposition:

Syria

In the News

May 1, 2014

Slavin on Ambassador Crocker’s Warning

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Al-Monitor on an address given by former US Ambassador Ryan Crocker at the Council on Foreign Relations:

Syria

MENASource

May 1, 2014

Syria: A Candidate for “Pragmatic Humanitarian Intervention?”

By Frederic C. Hof

In the summer of 2012, International Security (Vol. 37) published an essay by Professor Richard Pape entitled, “When Duty Calls: A Pragmatic Standard of Humanitarian Intervention.” Pape argued that the genocidal standard for humanitarian intervention was too high.

Syria

MENASource

Apr 29, 2014

Syria: Pull Together Resources, Rationalize the Response

By Frederic C. Hof

In a recent panel discussion conducted under Chatham House rules, a United States Senator explained the essence of an absent US leadership role in bringing about political transition in Syria: “to pull together the resources and rationalize the response.”

Syria

MENASource

Apr 24, 2014

The Obama Doctrine: Hof Remarks in Beirut

By Frederic C. Hof

The key source for what we might call the Obama Doctrine is the president’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2013. The speech was preceded by a policy review in the White House during the summer of 2013. That review was overseen by the new Assistant to the President for National […]

Syria

In the News

Apr 24, 2014

Hof: Assad is “Not Losing Sleep” Over Fate of Alawite Community

By Frederic C. Hof

The New York Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Frederic Hof on potential Alwate dissention from in the Syrian regime following Bashar al-Assad’s likely reelection: 

Syria
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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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