A FRAGILE SYRIA IN THE SHADOW OF REGIONAL UPHEAVAL

PLEASE NOTE! THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD ONLINE. THE ZOOM LINK WILL BE SHARED WITH REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS ON MONDAY

Syria is undergoing a fragile and uncertain transition at a time when the whole Middle East is being reshaped by a new war. The country’s economic and social conditions remain strained, while the new authorities struggle to deliver basic services and stabilize governance. Mounting pressure from Islamists seeking to redefine the social order is adding to tensions. In April, protests in Damascus signalled growing dissatisfaction with the new ruling elite. Internal tensions also remain unresolved. These include disputes over the forced integration of the Kurdish northeast, the continued marginalization of the Alawite community, and an ongoing crisis in the Druze-majority south. The expert panel will also examine Europe’s shifting approach to Syrian refugees, including increasing efforts to reduce their presence. It will consider whether renewed instability in Syria and the broader region could spark another wave of displacement toward Europe.

Rabie Nasser is an economist, researcher and co-founder of the Syrian Center for Policy Research(SCPR). His areas of expertise and research include macroeconomic policies, inclusive growth, poverty, and conflict socioeconomic impact assessment. (online)

Meliha Benli Altunışık is a Professor in the Department of International Relations at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. She has written mainly on international relations of the Middle East and Turkey’s foreign policy, including on ideology and pragmatism in foreign policy, cusp states, rentier state theory, humanitarian diplomacy, regional powers, regional rivalries and regionalism related to the Middle East and Turkey. (online)

Abdullah al-Jabassini holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Kent, Canterbury. His main research interests include political violence and civil war, rebel governance, peacebuilding and reconciliation processes, rebel-military integration, authoritarian conflict management, and local governance in areas of limited statehood. (online)

Rim Turkmani is a Research Fellow at the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit in the Department of International Development at LSE, where she directs the Syria conflict research programme. Her policy-oriented research work focuses on identity politics, legitimate governance, transforming war economy it into peace economy and the relationship between local and external drivers of the conflict. She is a member of the Women’s Advisory Board to the UN special envoy to Syria and sits on the advisory board of airwars.org, which monitor the international coalition strikes against ISIS. She directed the project: ‘Crowd-sourcing Conflict and Peace ‘Events’ in the Syrian conflict’ which produced a detailed database of instances of violence and peace-making. She is an Astrophysicist by training, previous Dorothy Hodgkin fellow of the Royal Society and writer/curator on the history Islamic science and culture focusing on the impact of the Arabic/Islamic science on the scientific revolution in the 17th century. (online)

Moderation:

Gudrun Harrer, Lecturer in Modern History and Politics of the Near and Middle East at the University of Vienna and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna; former Senior Editor at Der Standard (until 2025). (online)