Featured reading

Obama Should Remember Rwanda as He Weighs Action 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

Obama Should Remember Rwanda as He Weighs Action 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

Obama Should Remember Rwanda as He Weighs Action 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

Obama Should Remember Rwanda as He Weighs Action 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

Obama Should Remember Rwanda as He Weighs Action 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

New Atlanticist

Apr 29, 2013

Obama Should Remember Rwanda as He Weighs Action in Syria

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

The Rwanda genocide began in April 1994; within a few weeks, nongovernmental organizations there were estimating that 100,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been massacred. Yet two months later, Reuters correspondent Alan Elsner and State Department spokeswoman Christine Shelly had an infamous exchange: Elsner: “How would you describe the events taking place in Rwanda?” Shelly: […]

Syria United States and Canada

MENASource

Apr 25, 2013

Syria and Geneva: No Precondition, but a Certain Result

By Frederic C. Hof

US President Barack Obama’s Syria-related objective remains one of negotiated political transition consistent with what the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5) decided in Geneva in June 2012. It is important, therefore, to understand what was actually agreed.

Syria

MENASource

Apr 22, 2013

Syria: Defending the Indefensible

By Frederic C. Hof

Recent testimony by US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey illustrated quite nicely one outcome of a troubled interagency national security system: US senators seemed to be more perplexed about American policy toward Syria after the hearing than they were before.

Syria United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Apr 18, 2013

How to End the War in Syria

By Rajan Menon

There have been persistent rumors that Jabhat al-Nusra, among the most effective militias fighting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is linked to Al Qaeda. That connection has now been confirmed. The head of al-Nusra’s Syrian branch, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, has declared his organization’s “allegiance” to Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s leader.

Russia Syria

MENASource

Apr 18, 2013

The Economics of Civil War in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Without foreign military intervention or a substantial boost in military support for the rebels, the civil war in Syria will probably destroy its state and economy. This has spurred much discussion in policy circles about Syria’s postwar reconstruction and economic recovery, which could cost an estimated $80 billion. Much of it has rightly focused on […]

Syria

MENASource

Apr 8, 2013

The No-Fly Zone Conundrum

By Frederic C. Hof

Since the very start of armed resistance to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad there have been demands that US President Barack Obama declare and impose a no-fly zone over parts of Syria. Over the past several months these demands have increased exponentially, as the regime has established a deadly pattern of terror: when […]

Syria

MENASource

Apr 4, 2013

The Syrian National Fund: One of Many Tools to Save Syria

By Hussein M. El-Amach

Saving Syria is conditional on the immediate and total removal of the Assad regime, by force or via political settlement. Otherwise, dragging on the stalemate will leave nothing to be saved. The cost of the Arab Spring in Syria has been catastrophic in comparison to other countries. Syria has suffered severe destruction at the hands […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Mar 27, 2013

A New Syria Must Have US Support

By Frederic C. Hof

To most Americans, Syria looks like a mess best left to Syrians and their neighbors to sort out. Yet the conflict that President Bashar al-Assad unleashed against his people threatens to produce a large, ungovernable space, with refugees racing for the borders; terrorists setting up shop; chemical and biological weapons unguarded and available for seizure; […]

Politics & Diplomacy Syria

MENASource

Mar 26, 2013

Syria: Is Iraq the Wrong Lesson?

By Frederic C. Hof

Cautionary tales related to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq are often cited to justify the Obama administration’s reluctance to intervene militarily in Syria, even in ways falling far short of boots on the ground.

Syria

MENASource

Mar 25, 2013

The United States, Europe, and the Case of Syria*

By Frederic C. Hof

How can Europe and the United States effectively work together to try to end Syria’s nightmare, bringing about a comprehensive political transition from corrupt and incompetent family rule to a modern, representative, and nonsectarian government? 

Europe & Eurasia 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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