The Latest - Syria
Assessing the Threat to the Homeland from al Qaeda Operations in Iran and Syria
Al Qaeda’s Iran-based network has not only facilitated the movement of terrorists to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, but has also been implicated in plots... more...
Breaking the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nexus
The purpose of my testimony is to analyze the relationship between Iran, Syria, and North Korea, with a particular emphasis on the Iran-Syria relationship and steps that the United States should take to support our national security. more...
Impotence Abroad
Hillary Clinton says that the Obama administration can’t do anything about Bashar al-Assad. They can’t make him step down, and they can’t stop him from massacring women and children, as he did last week in Houla. more...
What Obama Must Do in Syria After the Failed Annan Plan
A Joint Bulletin of the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) more...
From Tehran to Tahrir Square: Is Freedom Really Sweeping the Middle East?
At the start of the Arab Spring in early 2011, Western nations around the world held their breath and hoped that the chaotic uprisings on the streets of Egypt and neighbouring countries would herald democracy in the Middle East. It’s been a year since the movement began and much has changed – or has it? Real and robust democracy has a long way to go before becoming commonplace in the Middle East. What is really happening behind the scenes and away from the news cameras? And how can the West help this transition? more...
Towards a Post-Assad Syria
A Discussion Paper Prepared by the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) for the Syrian Working Group more...
The Assad Regime’s Continuing Mass Murder of Syrians
Long a sponsor of terrorism beyond its borders, the Syrian government is now waging an internal war against its own people. The United Nations reports that President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces have killed over 3,000 civilians and detained 30,000 more since the country’s pro-democracy protests began in March 2011. more...
Axis of Abuse: U.S. Human Rights toward Iran and Syria
On behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, thank you for inviting me to take part in today’s hearing. I also would like to commend you for holding this hearing at a critical time in the ongoing Syrian uprising against the regime of Bashar Assad. more...
EU Sanctions on Syria
The following memorandum provides information on the EU’s latest efforts to sanction Syria. Following Washington’s lead, 27 members of the European Union recently imposed sanctions on Syria, banning imports of Syrian crude oil and petroleum products in an effort to pressure Assad to step down or stop the killing of protestors. more...
Syria’s Energy Sector
With the death toll mounting, pro-democracy protests growing, and the regime of Bashar al-Assad responding with ever-increasing brutality, the United States and its allies are urgently seeking new ways to sanction and pressure the Syrian regime. more...
The Freedom Collection
FDD's Ammar Abdulhamid did a series of interviews with the George W. Bush Presidential Center in July 2011 on the Syrian Uprisings. As part of their Freedom Collection, Ammar explains the Syrian government's brutal tactics against the protesters and how he took inspiration from the Federalist Papers. more...
Syria Sets its Traps for the Obama Administration
In approaching Syria, the new administration will have to navigate carefully amidst myths, fantasies, and traps laid not just by the Syrians, but also by credulous experts here in the United States. The best way to do so is to assess soberly the Syrian regime's nature, interests, priorities, and instruments as well as the history of diplomatic engagement with it.
more...After the Hariri Assassination: Syria, Lebanon, and U.S. Policy
The occupation drew its rationale from three factors. Broadly speaking, it garnered validation under the guise of Cold War politics. On the regional level, Israel's 1978 and 1982 invasions of Lebanon and subsequent occupation of the southern part of the country gave justification for a continued Syrian presence. Yet, the factor that allowed Syrian hegemony to fully take root was the civil war and concomitant fragmentation of Lebanese society.
more...The Syrian Logic
Three years ago, when Bashar Assad succeeded his father, Hafez Assad, as the leader of Syria, many hoped he would move Syria away from its anti-Western stance. Limited political reforms, Syria's cooperation against al-Qaeda after 9/11, and its vote for U.N. Resolution 1441 last November were viewed as very positive. more...
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