Policy Analysis

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  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs

    The “Syria Without Camps” Initiative: Necessary but Premature?

    Oct 15, 2026Heba Gowayed

    Two years after the end of a nearly 14-year war that resulted in one of the world’s largest and most protracted humanitarian crises, Syria is envisaging the hi…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaSecurity and Defense

    Turkey, Israel, and the Struggle over Syria’s New Order

    Oct 14, 2026Salim Çevik

    Israel’s August 18, 2026, airstrike on the Abu al-Dhuhour airbase, about 70 kilometers from the Turkish border, marked a new escalation in Turkish-Israeli comp…

  • Collective Analysis
    The Arab WorldEducation and Development

    UNGA 2026: War, Diplomacy, and the Middle East’s Changing Order

    Sep 28, 2026Nur Arafeh Imad K. Harb Khalil E. Jahshan Tamara Kharroub Negar Mortazavi Yousef Munayyer Daniel Neep

    Nearly 130 world leaders attended the general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), held in New York from September 22 to 2…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Control without Inclusion: Eastern Syria Under Damascus

    Jun 12, 2026Haian Dukhan

    In May 2026, Hussein al-Sharaa, the father of Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, described the people of Deir al-Zor as “a group of savages with loud …

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    The Shrinking Space for Kurdish Autonomy in Syria

    Feb 26, 2026Gregory Aftandilian

    In January 2026, clashes between Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) resulted in Damascus regaining large parts of territory that h…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Syria’s New Order: Centralization by External Consent

    Jan 29, 2026Salim Çevik

    On January 8, 2026, Syrian interim government forces moved into two neighborhoods in Aleppo controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed coa…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Prospects for Syria’s Democratization Under Ahmed al-Sharaa

    Nov 21, 2025Patricia Karam

    The spectacular and unforeseen fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 upended Syria’s political order and launched a precarious transition. Ahmed al-Sharaa o…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaDemocracy and Governance

    Syria’s Fragile Integration: The SDF Joins the Army but Autonomy Remains Elusive

    Nov 5, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    An October 2025 deal between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—which are linked to the Kurdish-dominated autonomous administration in the northea…

  • Policy Analysis
    SyriaGlobal Health and Health Policy

    From Syria to Sudan: How Captagon Fuels Instability

    Sep 26, 2025Gregory Aftandilian

    Syria’s former Assad regime was the primary producer and chief beneficiary of the Captagon drug trade. Although the new Syrian government led by interim presid…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonEnergy and Economics

    Can Lebanon Be a Hub for Syria’s Reconstruction?

    Sep 24, 2025Patricia Karam

    Nearly a year after the end of Syria’s civil war and the fall of the Assad dictatorship, the country has embarked on a long and complex reconstruction process.…

  • Policy Analysis
    LebanonRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Rumors and Risks: Lebanon’s Political Anxieties and Relations with the New Syria

    Aug 12, 2025Patricia Karam

    In May 2025, Syria’s transitional President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, confirmed that his government was in indirect communication with Israel, the first time the two s…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeyRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Moderation Without Transformation: Why Turkey Is Failing Syria’s Postwar Transition

    Aug 8, 2025Salim Çevik

    After years of investing in Syria’s opposition, Ankara is committed to see the emerging government in Damascus establish a functioning state that can restore b…

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