Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaUS Foreign Policy

    Lifting US Sanctions on Syria: A New Chapter for Damascus and Beirut?

    Jul 18, 2025Patricia Karam

    In a May 13, 2025, speech in Riyadh, President Donald Trump surprised the world by pledging to lift all US sanctions on Syria. Trump’s unexpected announcement …

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Pragmatism Shapes Iraq’s Position Toward Post-Assad Syria

    Jul 1, 2025Giorgio Cafiero

    Sharing a 375-mile border with Syria, Iraq has high stakes in its neighbor’s successful transition following the December 2024 fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaIdentity Politics and Sectarianization

    Syrian Kurds Attempt to Maneuver Amid New Realities

    Jun 27, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    Syrian Kurds face new realities that have put their experiment in autonomy in serious doubt. Although in March 2025 they signed an agreement with the new Syria…

  • Policy Analysis
    The Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy

    President Trump’s Gulf Trip: Post-Visit Observations

    May 20, 2025Charles W. Dunne Dana El Kurd Imad K. Harb Khalil E. Jahshan Assal Rad Annelle Sheline

    Last week President Donald Trump ended a three-country trip to the Arabian Gulf—Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—where he signed lucrative arm…

  • Policy Analysis
    Saudi ArabiaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Saudi Arabia’s Calculated Re-engagement in Syria and Lebanon

    Apr 8, 2025Unit for Political Studies

    On March 28, the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers signed an agreement in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, affirming the importance of demarcating borders between the…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Challenges Facing Syria’s Constitutional Declaration

    Apr 4, 2025Radwan Ziadeh

    Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on December 8, 2024, Syria’s new administration announced on January 29, 2025, the appointment of Ahmed al-Shara…

  • Policy Analysis
    Palestine/IsraelMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    A New Opportunity for Palestinians in Syria

    Mar 21, 2025Nidal Betare

    In Syria under former President Hafez al-Assad, liberating Palestine at all costs was a regime slogan commensurate to freeing the Golan Heights of Israeli occu…

  • Viewpoint
    SyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Revolutionary Legitimacy in Syria: Sharaa as President

    Feb 4, 2025Radwan Ziadeh

    In all transitional periods, it is important to move quickly from revolutionary legitimacy to representative legitimacy, which Syria’s new authorities did by a…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaJustice, Equality, and Human Rights

    Liberation from the “Human Slaughterhouse”: A Dark History of Imprisonment in Syria

    Jan 28, 2025Yara M. Asi

    Assad's regime imprisoned more than 150,000 people, including some 5,000 children. Multiple reports have emerged of horrific torture, neglect, and murder insid…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Regime Change in Syria and Stabilization: The Limits of Turkey’s Unilateral Action

    Jan 24, 2025Salim Çevik

    Turkey has played a pivotal role in Syria’s conflict, significantly shaping the trajectory of opposition groups, particularly Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). With…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Egypt Remains Cool to the New Syrian Government

    Jan 23, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    The Egyptian regime of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi looks upon the recent developments in Syria with a good deal of trepidation. That the Islamist rebel armed group, H…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    Political Change and the Fate of Syria’s Refugees Around the World

    Jan 16, 2025Heba Gowayed

    On December 8, the Syrian armed resistance group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) brought the Assad regime to an abrupt end after more than 54 years of brutal rule.…

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