Featured reading

Defining Down to Defeat

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

Defining Down to Defeat

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

Defining Down to Defeat

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

Defining Down to Defeat

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

Defining Down to Defeat

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

SyriaSource

Jul 14, 2017

Defining Down to Defeat

By Frederic C. Hof

Imagine if, in 1945, the War Department and senior American commanders in Europe and Asia had been permitted to define victory simply as the fall of Berlin and Tokyo, with no post-combat stabilization and reconstruction program for either Germany or Japan. Imagine if, in 2003, the United States had invaded Iraq without a realistic, implementable […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 13, 2017

The Evolving Economic Model of ISIS Post-Caliphate

By Haid Haid

The US-led anti-ISIS campaign has largely succeeded in conquering the group militarily, which has made it difficult for the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) to operate as a conventional state. As a result of losing most of its urban centers in both Syria and Iraq, the ISIS governance model of controlling and administering territories seems […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 13, 2017

Horrifying Testimony on “Syria’s Human Slaughterhouse,” Saydnaya Prison

By Hosam al-Jablawi

Thirty kilometers north of the Syrian capital of Damascus, on a towering hill somewhat removed from the urban centers, sits Saydnaya prison. A previous inmate, Omar al-Shogre, describes it as a place where you are brought to die. According to Amnesty International, no less than three hundred imprisoned opposition members lost their lives there each […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 13, 2017

Post Conflict Stabilization: Turkey and the End of Operation Euphrates Shield

By Aaron Stein, Hossam Abouzahr, and Rao Komar

On March 30, the Turkish military, backed by Syrian rebel groups, ended its seven month military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield in northern Syria. The Turkish aims were twofold: force the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) from the border and prevent the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from pushing west from its territory in nearby Manbij. […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 12, 2017

The Syrian Elite Forces and the Battle for Raqqa

By Abdulrahman al-Masri

Alongside the US-backed forces storming into Raqqa is the all-Arab tribal group, the Syrian Elite Forces (SEF), headed by former Syrian political opposition leader, Ahmad al-Jarba. The SEF is composed of primarily two influential Arab tribes in the northeast and eastern towns of Syria: al-Shu’aytat and Shammar. So far the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 12, 2017

The Turkish Military is Likely to Target Idlib Next

By Molham Ekaidi

Turkish media circles, especially those close to the government, are heavily discussing a Turkish military operation against, “terrorist networks.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself spoke of an impending military operation along the lines of “Operation Euphrates Shield, ” an operation that concluded in late March. The Turkish statement was accompanied by news of a […]

Syria

Report

Jul 10, 2017

Partner operations in Syria: Lessons learned and the way forward

By Aaron Stein

This report is based on a series of interviews with US officials and details two efforts to achieve US objectives to take back territory from ISIS in Syria—with elements trained in Turkey, as part of the Train and Equip program, and through the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the dominant local force in northeastern Syria. The […]

Security Partnerships Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 10, 2017

Is This Ceasefire Different?

By Frederic C. Hof

The relative quiet prevailing in southwestern Syrian beginning on Sunday, July 9, 2017 is a good thing. Assad regime barrel bombs have stopped falling on civilian residential areas. The prospect of a Syrian refugee surge toward Jordan has diminished. Is this ceasefire something different from the failed “cessation of hostilities” of early 2016? Or is […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 7, 2017

Expert Commentary: The Ceasefire on Syria’s Southwest Border

By SyriaSource

Today the United States, Russia, and Jordan announced a de-escalation agreement for the southwest border area in Syria. The agreement is scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, July 9 and the purpose of the agreement is to allow these countries and any groups they support in the region to focus on fighting the Islamic […]

Syria

SyriaSource

Jul 7, 2017

The New Market on the Turkish-Syrian Border

By Ahmad Abd al-Haqq

This May, a French woman and her two children entered Syria from Turkish territory near Khirbat al-Joz. The woman was part of a French armed group and crossed by liaising with Turkish officers, paying them a sum thought to exceed two thousand dollars, according to sources interviewed by the author. Other jihadists including Chechens, Uzbeks, […]

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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