Featured reading

Blurring the Record on 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

Blurring the Record on 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

Blurring the Record on 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

Blurring the Record on 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

Blurring the Record on 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

Public Event
Mon, March 18, 2024 • 1:00 pm ET

The Syria Strategy Project: A public launch

Civil Society
Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity
Human Rights

Online Event
Mon, February 12, 2024 • 12:00 pm ET

One year on: Assessing the February 6th earthquake response in Syria

Civil Society
Economy & Business
Human Rights
International Organizations

Online Event
Fri, May 31, 2024 • 9:30 am ET

Serving communities with disability in conflict contexts

Civil Society
Conflict
Crisis Management
Human Rights

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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

Mar 31, 2014

Blurring the Record on Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

In his exchange with Scott Pelley, President Obama did not (as the Reuters account implies) literally employ the “boots on the ground” straw man to caricature the position of his critics. But he came close.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2014

Why Syria is Important

By Frederic C. Hof

Syria and its 23 million people sit in the middle of a neighborhood containing important friends and allies of the United States. It is now entering its fourth year of chaos, bloodshed, starvation, and terror. It is a case study in how governments commit war crimes and crimes against humanity against their own citizenry: the […]

Middle East Syria

In the News

Mar 28, 2014

Itani on “Zooming In” on Local Realities in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani writes for CNN’s Global Public Square on how U.S. policymakers should “zoom in” on local realities in Syria in order to solve the crisis there:

Syria

MENASource

Mar 26, 2014

The EU-US Summit Joint Statement On Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Communiqués issued at the conclusions of international conferences normally read poorly and break no new ground. In this sense, paragraph 22—Syria—of the EU-US Summit Joint Statement (March 26, 2014) does not disappoint. To the extent, however, that the words reflect the quality of the summit’s deliberations on the Syrian crisis, the joint statement does not […]

Syria

MENASource

Mar 25, 2014

Syria: (Non)Implementation Of Security Council Resolution 2139

By Frederic C. Hof

I am extremely concerned with the ongoing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Syria and the culture of impunity which has developed. All sides in the conflict must adhere to international humanitarian and human rights law.

Syria

In the News

Mar 25, 2014

Hof on Blaming the Syrian Opposition

By Frederic C. Hof

The Daily Beast quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof on the argument that the Syrian opposition is to blame for Bashar al-Assad’s survival:

Syria

MENASource

Mar 24, 2014

Syria: Blaming the Opposition

By Frederic C. Hof

Why has Bashar al-Assad been able to hang onto power in western Syria? According to Ambassador Robert Ford, there are three reasons, none of which relates to shortcomings in Western policy.

Syria

MENASource

Mar 20, 2014

Crime and Impunity in Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

Save for the efforts of humanitarian agencies operating inside Syria and along its borders, the international community has done little but bear witness to the plight of those caught in the maelstrom. Syrians feel abandoned and hopeless.

Syria

MENASource

Mar 19, 2014

Closing Syria’s Embassy

By Frederic C. Hof

Special Envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein yesterday announced that the United States had notified the Syrian government “that it must immediately suspend operations of its Embassy in Washington, DC and its honorary consulates in Troy, Michigan and Houston, Texas.”

Syria

In the News

Mar 17, 2014

Itani on What Sanctioning Russia Means for Syria

By Faysal Itani

McClatchy quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on how sanctioning Russia could effect diplomatic efforts over Syria:

Russia 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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