Featured reading

Ambassador Fred Hof Address to the Harvard National & International Security Program 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

Ambassador Fred Hof Address to the Harvard National & International Security Program 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

Ambassador Fred Hof Address to the Harvard National & International Security Program 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

Ambassador Fred Hof Address to the Harvard National & International Security Program 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

Ambassador Fred Hof Address to the Harvard National & International Security Program 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

Former fellow


Qutaiba Idlbi


Former 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

Dec 6, 2013

Ambassador Fred Hof Address to the Harvard National & International Security Program on Syria

By MENASource

After months of tentative dates, preliminary conferences, and backroom wrangling, the Geneva II peace talks are now penciled in for January 22. Considering the track record of delays, it is fair to wonder if this new date will stick. But the larger question facing the Geneva process is whether a diplomatic solution to the Syrian […]

Syria
Denmark's HDMS Vaedderen

NATOSource

Dec 6, 2013

Denmark and Norway Offer to Transport Chemical Weapons Out of Syria

By Foreign Ministry of Norway

Based on decisions by the United Nations Security Council and the OPCW, Norway and Denmark have agreed to offer a joint contribution to the transportation of chemical warfare agents out of Syria.

International Organizations Northern Europe
President Barack Obama on Air Force One

NATOSource

Dec 4, 2013

Majority of Americans Disapprove of Obama’s Handling of Foreign Policy

By Pew Research Center

Foreign policy, once a relative strength for President Obama, has become a target of substantial criticism. By a 56% to 34% margin more disapprove than approve of his handling of foreign policy.

Europe & Eurasia Syria

MENASource

Nov 27, 2013

Syria: Is a Diplomatic Solution Possible?

By Frederic C. Hof

The suffering of Syrians inside their tortured, broken country is unspeakable.  Even those not yet driven from their homes or banished by fear from their country of birth cannot escape the consequences of pure evil unleashed.  In recent days a young woman from the family that hosted me in Damascus as an exchange student eons […]

Syria

MENASource

Nov 25, 2013

Syria: Towards a Strategic Reappraisal

By Frederic C. Hof

The closing session of the 2013 Atlantic Council Energy and Economic Summit in Istanbul featured a lively discussion of what to do about the mess that is Syria.  The four panelists included former national security advisors to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, a member of the European Parliament, and a prominent Turkish journalist.  […]

Syria
Rebels training in Syria

NATOSource

Nov 22, 2013

Six Islamist Factions Unite in Largest Syria Rebel Merger

By AFP, BBC, and Reuters

From AFP:  Six key Islamist groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria joined forces on Friday, a spokesman for Aleppo’s biggest rebel force said.

Syria
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius

NATOSource

Nov 19, 2013

French Foreign Minister Sees ‘Isolationist Tendency’ in US Foreign Policy

By Roger Cohen, New York Times

There is talk of the trauma of Aug. 31. On that Saturday afternoon President [Francois] Hollande took a call from President [Barack] Obama.

France Iran
President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel

NATOSource

Nov 15, 2013

Europe Loses Trust in Obama

By John Vinocur, Wall Street Journal

The U.S. president’s turnabouts on Syria and Iran—coupled with his policy fumbles at home—have diminished European allies’ traditional respect for the White House.

Europe & Eurasia Germany

MENASource

Nov 14, 2013

Syria: Should Geneva 2 Happen?

By Frederic C. Hof

Daily reports of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s tactical military advances in Aleppo, the Damascus suburbs, and elsewhere seem not to dampen the appetite of President Barack Obama’s administration for the near-term convening of a “Geneva 2” conference, whose stated purpose would be to negotiate—on the basis of mutual consent—the peopling of a transitional governing body […]

Syria
"There is no call for ... and no planning for a larger NATO mission" in Syria

NATOSource

Nov 7, 2013

Several NATO Members Offer to Help Eliminate Syria’s Chemical Weapons

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

On Syria, [NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip] Breedlove held out the possibility that NATO could play a coordinating role in eliminating chemical weapons although no request had been made for it to do so.

NATO Security & Defense
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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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