Featured reading

El-Gamal joins France24 to discuss what’s next for Islamic State group after US raid

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
El-Gamal joins France24 to discuss what’s next for Islamic State group after US raid

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
El-Gamal joins France24 to discuss what’s next for Islamic State group after US raid

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
El-Gamal joins France24 to discuss what’s next for Islamic State group after US raid

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
El-Gamal joins France24 to discuss what’s next for Islamic State group after US raid

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

Event Recap

Oct 30, 2023

Addressing the captagon crisis in MENA: Strategies & Challenges

By Diane Mohamed and Rachel Friedman

The Syria Program hosted a panel discussion taking stock of current captagon landscape in Syria and captagon’s place within the global illicit supply chain.

Corruption Crisis Management
Public Event Thu, September 28, 2023 • 12:20 pm ET

Addressing the captagon crisis in MENA: Strategies & challenges
Civil Society Corruption Economy & Business Freedom and Prosperity
Public Event Wed, July 19, 2023 • 9:00 am ET

How can the United States counter normalization with Assad in the Middle East
Civil Society Human Rights International Organizations Middle East
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Learn more about the Middle East Programs

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.

EXPLORE THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL’S MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMS

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Sign up for the MENASource newsletter, highlighting pieces that follow democratic transitions and economic changes throughout the region.



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Content

In the News

Oct 28, 2019

El-Gamal joins France24 to discuss what’s next for Islamic State group after US raid

By Atlantic Council

Middle East National Security

In the News

Oct 28, 2019

Wechsler quoted in Vox on Baghdadi raid

By Atlantic Council

Conflict Middle East

MENASource

Oct 28, 2019

A highway linking Iraq and Syria becomes an opportunity for Tehran

By Caroline Rose

In the past month, the sands have shifted within the Levant’s political landscape. The United States has recalibrated its official policy in the region, choosing to draw down its special operations forces in northern Syria and thereby introducing a power vacuum in the region. After an offensive and brief ceasefire in northern Syria, Moscow and Ankara […]

Iran Iraq

New Atlanticist

Oct 28, 2019

Five takeaways from the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

By William F. Wechsler

This is a serious but not fatal blow to the Islamic State, and the generational conflict against Salafi jihadist organizations is far from over. The Islamic State's center of gravity will increasingly be its narrative pull rather than its claim to represent a governing caliphate.

Conflict Extremism

In the News

Oct 27, 2019

Wechsler quoted in The Washington Post on ISIS and US policy

By Atlantic Council

Middle East National Security

In the News

Oct 27, 2019

Itani quoted in Stamford Advocate on the Islamic State

By Atlantic Council

Middle East Security & Defense

Inflection Points

Oct 27, 2019

Geopolitical earthquake shakes US position

By Frederick Kempe

Though the tremors have long been evident, it’s growing clearer with each day that we’re experiencing a seismic shift that is threatening the political and economic world the United States did so much to create.

Europe & Eurasia Russia

In the News

Oct 24, 2019

Itani quoted in the Petroleum Economist on oil and trouble in the Gulf

By Atlantic Council

Energy & Environment Geopolitics & Energy Security

New Atlanticist

Oct 23, 2019

October 23, 1983: Then and now

By Frederic C. Hof

The needless deaths of 241 Americans in October 1983 and the ill-considered expectation of a “cake walk” in Iraq nearly twenty years later would combine, in the minds of many Americans, to create the belief that the United States can do nothing right in the Middle East; that it is a place of “sand and death” best left to its inhabitants and their neighbors.

Iran Middle East

SyriaSource

Oct 23, 2019

What the Turkish-Russian deal in Syria means for Vladimir Putin

By Frederic C. Hof

The Kremlin stands to reap significant rewards from its agreement with Turkey on Syria.

Politics & Diplomacy 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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