Featured reading

Dealing with Depression

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

Dealing with Depression

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

Dealing with Depression

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

Dealing with Depression

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

Dealing with Depression

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.


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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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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

SyriaSource

Oct 2, 2017

Dealing with Depression

By Frederic C. Hof

It is hard to have a conversation about Syria without speaking or hearing the words “how depressing.” This has, in fact, been true for years. The Obama administration observed, unopposed, a relentless, multi-year campaign of civilian mass homicide by a larcenous, incompetent, and brutal regime, one fully enabled and encouraged by Russia and Iran. The […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 28, 2017

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s Lone Path to Survival

By Saleem al-Omar

The fate of Idlib, the Syrian opposition’s last major stronghold, is coming to a head. Militarily, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is in control, but this military control is severely threatened. HTS could lose this control at any moment and is looking to find another way to continue to exert control over the affairs of the […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 25, 2017

Sixth Round of Astana Talks Threatens the Fate of Idlib and the Syrian Revolution

By Abdullah Almousa

Once the Syrian regime realized the opposition had the ability to decide the war militarily, especially after the “Allahu Ghalibun” offensive launched by Jaish al-Islam which shook the foundations around Damascus, direct Russian intervention ultimately saved the Assad Regime from collapse.

Syria

In the News

Sep 24, 2017

Alfoneh in Arab Weekly: Hezbollah’s Costly Victory in Syria

By Ali Alfoneh

Read the full article here.

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 22, 2017

It’s Time the US Faces the Hard Questions of How and When to Leave Syria

By Aaron Stein

The US backed effort to territorially defeat the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) has grown more complicated in recent weeks, despite considerable progress to liberate Raqqa from ISIS. The Syrian regime’s capture of Deir Ezzor city in early September brought regime, Russian, and Iranian elements into proximity to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 22, 2017

Leaderless Jihad

By Mona Alami

The bombing of a London District line at the Parsons Green station, falls within a long series of terror attacks claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) in the UK. The most recent spat of violence reflects a reversal of ISIS, from ambitioned state building, to a leaderless Jihad.

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 21, 2017

Rehabilitating ISIS’ Child Soldiers

By Feras Hanoush

“The Cubs of the Caliphate” is what the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIS, or Daesh) calls its child recruits and fighters under the age of  eighteen.  An estimated 2,000 conscripted minors have undergone “Sharia” and military training in ISIS camps, learning to use light and medium weaponry, shoot, dismantle and reassemble weapons, go on raids using […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 20, 2017

The Future of Kurdish Relations with the Assad Regime Post-ISIS

By Hosam al-Jablawi

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the primary ally of the US in Syria and the largest forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), recently entered into negotiations and coordination with the Assad regime to fight Syrian rebels and the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh). These negotiations […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 15, 2017

De-Escalation and Astana

By Emma Beals

The Turkey, Iran, and Russia-led Astana talks concluded their sixth round in the Kazakh capital yesterday, with the announcement of an initial agreement about Idlib reached between the guarantors. After multiple rounds of UN-led peace talks over the course of the conflict failed to make progress, Astana has become the incubator for the current multilateral […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 14, 2017

Failed Revolution?

By Frederic C. Hof

From the perspective of September 2017, it seems that all the wrong people are celebrating the state of affairs in Syria: Bashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin, and Ali Khamenei top the list. The first has inflicted mass homicide on defenseless civilians for years without shame or remorse. The second intervened decisively two years ago, to save […]

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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