Featured reading

In Syria, America’s National Interests Do not Coincide with Israel’s

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

In Syria, America’s National Interests Do not Coincide with Israel’s

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

In Syria, America’s National Interests Do not Coincide with Israel’s

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

In Syria, America’s National Interests Do not Coincide with Israel’s

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

In Syria, America’s National Interests Do not Coincide with Israel’s

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

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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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Leadership

Former fellow


Qutaiba Idlbi


Former Resident Senior Fellow, Syria

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economic Sanctions
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Fellow


Michel Duclos


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Conflict
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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

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Mon, March 18, 2024 • 1:00 pm ET

The Syria Strategy Project: A public launch

Civil Society
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Freedom and Prosperity
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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
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International Organizations

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

Serving communities with disability in conflict contexts

Civil Society
Conflict
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Content

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2013

In Syria, America’s National Interests Do not Coincide with Israel’s

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Israel’s military intervention in Syria destroyed Hezbollah bound missiles that might soon be aimed at Israeli cities and was clearly in Israel’s national interests.

Missile Defense Security & Defense

MENASource

May 8, 2013

Syria: Geneva Resurrected?

By Frederic C. Hof

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Moscow produced a surprising result: a US-Russian agreement to convene an international conference as soon as this month, one that would “bring representatives of the [Syrian] government and the opposition together” to determine how to implement the Syrian political transition agreement reached at Geneva on June 30, […]

Syria

MENASource

May 7, 2013

Syria: Keeping One’s Eye on the Ball

By Frederic C. Hof

The swirling controversy over chemical weapons, red lines, and leaks that the administration is reconsidering giving lethal aid to the Syrian opposition threatens to blur that which should be clear: American objectives in Syria and how to achieve them. While the controversy du jour may well focus the thinking of the US interagency in a […]

Russia Syria

New Atlanticist

May 6, 2013

Syria and the Obama Administration’s Loss of Credibility

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

When it comes to maintaining military credibility in the face of potential national security threats, the Obama administration has gone out of its way to convince friend and foe alike that the president and the administration do not bluff when it comes to their foreign policy and national security goals and commitments.

National Security Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 3, 2013

What Was Obama Thinking?

By Barry Pavel

What was President Obama thinking in August 2012 when he declared that Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Syria would alter his calculus and cross a red line, triggering U.S. intervention?

Security & Defense Syria

MENASource

May 2, 2013

Rebel Commander Implores Obama to Protect the Syrian People, Take Action Against Assad

In a written appeal to US President Barack Obama, Syrian Supreme Military Council leader General Salim Idris calls for international support to protect the Syrian people and rid the world of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Download the PDF

Syria
Obama.JPG

MENASource

May 1, 2013

Syria: The Chemical Weapons Red Line

By Frederic C. Hof

The real significance of Syria’s likely crossing of US President Barack Obama’s chemical weapons red line may be that it will focus the administration’s attention on here-and-now Syria policy options as it has not been focused heretofore. As the president said in his April 30 press conference, regime culpability in using chemical weapons would force […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Apr 30, 2013

Time For Some American Shock and Awe in Syria

By Sarwar Kashmeri

United States’ intelligence agencies and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are still not certain the Syrian government of President Assad has used chemical weapons against its opposition. Nothing has yet emerged from France, Germany or Britain to unequivocally confirm this charge either. But the clamor among the hawkish segment of Washington lawmakers to get the […]

Security & Defense Syria

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
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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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