The Future of the Presidential election in Syria
Syria’s Presidential election will be held in 2021. There is already speculation about the legitimacy of these elections - the fact that half the country’s population is still displaced notwithstanding. The international community hopes to see the Constitutional Committee produce new electoral laws that will...
The Future of Syria and the Importance of Education
While the children of Syria cope with life-threatening concerns, they remain the future of Syria’s success and higher education is critical for this success. Before the civil war, Syria was classified as a middle-development country that offered subsidized education to nearly all children, including high...
Iraqi Prime Minister to visit Saudi Arabia at critical time
After initial hesitation, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced that he would visit Saudi Arabia for the first time since taking office in August 2014. The news of Abadi’s intention to visit Riyadh was first leaked days after the crisis between Saudi Arabia, Egypt and...
OIG and USAID Report to the Congress on US Aid to Syria
On Thursday July 14th, 2016, a subcommittee hearing within the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Middle East and North Africa titled “U.S. Humanitarian Assistance to Syria: Minimizing Risk and Improving Oversight” was held. Mr. Thomas Melito, director of International Affairs and Trade within the Government...
As Geneva III approaches, Geneva II Cesefire collapses
In late February, a partial truce agreement known as the “Cessation of Hostilities” was achieved between Russia and the United States in order to foster Geneva Peace Talks between different Syrians groups and move towards a political solution to the conflict. In order to better facilitate cohesion and capacity to negotiate on the opposition side, the Higher Negotiating Committee (HNC) was formed. However, as the Geneva Conference III on Syria is approaching – and as peace talks are expected to resume- there has been a complete collapse of the Geneva II ceasefire. In the last two weeks, all rebel-held areas have witnessed massive Russian airstrikes, shelling and bombing to the point that many activists and government officials feel that the there is little ability to have a component negotiation. Worse, the direct intervention of the Russian Airforce in conducting airstrikes in multiple civilian targets and US-backed rebels have severely hobbled the credibility of the UN-backed negotiations process. This comes as fifty-one State Department officials signed an official memo of dissent, critiquing the U.S. policy in Syria and calling for tougher action against the Assad Regime, after two years of American military operations in Syria, 400,000 Syrians dead and a refugee tragedy that is crashing over Europe.