Featured reading

What Next For US Policy in Syria?

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

What Next For US Policy in Syria?

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

What Next For US Policy in Syria?

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

What Next For US Policy in Syria?

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

What Next For US Policy in Syria?

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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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.

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Content

MENASource

Apr 24, 2014

What Next For US Policy in Syria?

By Frederic C. Hof

When national security advisor Susan Rice oversaw a Middle East policy review last summer, the guiding concept was to limit the president’s investment of time and energy in the myriad crises of the region. Considering himself to have been elected to end wars, restore the economy, institute national health care, and rebalance foreign policy in […]

Syria

MENASource

Apr 22, 2014

Assad’s Survival Need Not Be Inevitable

By Oubai Shahbandar

Bashar al-Assad recently announced that his regime is holding an “election” in Syria on June 3. The Syrian Opposition Coalition has responded that this latest move by the regime represents a clear decision by Assad to once and for all forgo any illusion that he is willing to pursue a political solution to the conflict. […]

Syria

In the News

Apr 20, 2014

Hof on Alawite Casualties in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Christian Science Monitor quotes Frederic Hof on how the crisis in Syria is costing the country’s Alawite community: 

Syria

MENASource

Apr 18, 2014

Preventing and Fighting Genocide in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Overall, however, it is both fair and profoundly unsatisfying to admit that our successes have been partial and the crimes against humanity that persist are devastating.

Syria

In the News

Apr 17, 2014

Hof on US-Made Anti-Tank Missiles in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof joins PRI’s The World to discuss anti-tank missiles made in the United States that are appearing in Syria: 

Syria

MENASource

Apr 17, 2014

Syria is Not a Stalemate

By Mohammed Alaa Ghanem

Last week, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was quoted as saying that “This year the active phase of military action in Syria will be over.” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah sounded a similar note, stating, “The danger of the Syrian regime’s fall has ended.” They do not believe the military situation in Syria is a stalemate. As […]

Syria

In the News

Apr 16, 2014

Hof: “The War That Matters for Assad is for Western Syria”

By Frederic C. Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof is quoted by Christian Science Monitor on the Assad regime’s recent battlefield successes: 

Syria

MENASource

Apr 16, 2014

Syria: Is There a Conscious Administration Strategy?

By Frederic C. Hof

At a recent regional conference hosted by the Lebanese Armed Forces in Beirut, a very prominent, careful, and well-connected journalist offered a stunning hypothesis that achieved instant credibility with a roomful of mainly Arab defense, foreign policy, and academic intellectuals: that far from being at sea in terms of Syria policy, the Obama administration is […]

Syria

MENASource

Apr 15, 2014

Remembering Patrick Seale and the Syria He Loved (Foreword by Frederic Hof)

By Walid Joumblat

The passing of author Patrick Seale offers an opportunity to reflect on what has become of the country he loved and whose history he chronicled: Syria. The Struggle for Syria, first published in 1965, was and remains a classic: essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Syria—even, or perhaps especially, the Syria of 2014.

Syria

MENASource

Apr 14, 2014

Syria: “Unbelievably Small” Confirmed

By Fred C. Hof

Secretary of State John Kerry’s Syria-related testimony of April 9th to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee attracted the attention of many at the Lebanese Army’s Fourth Annual Strategic Conference in Beirut.  Kerry confirmed in his testimony that his September 2013 characterization of pending American airstrikes as an “unbelievably small, limited kind of effort” was literally […]

Syria
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Experts

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

Economic Sanctions Economy & Business

Fellow

Arwa Damon

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Michel Duclos

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Conflict Crisis Management

Fellow

Sinan Hatahet

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Economic Sanctions

Fellow

Qutaiba Idlbi

Resident Senior Fellow, Syria

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economic Sanctions Entrepreneurship
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