{
"authors": [
"Malik al-Abdeh",
"Noah Bonsey",
"Maria Fantappie",
"Peter Harling",
"Sam Heller",
"Ammar Kahf",
"Kheder Khaddour",
"Maha Yahya"
],
"type": "event",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
"programAffiliation": "MEP",
"programs": [
"Middle East"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"Middle East",
"Syria",
"Levant"
],
"topics": [
"Political Reform"
]
}
Syria: From Central Power to Local Authorities
Fri, December 2nd, 2016
Beirut, Lebanon
While policy debates on Syria have overwhelmingly focused on military developments and political negotiations, a less explored consequence of the hyper-localized war has been the profound reshaping of a less visible but crucial actor, the Syrian state. The conflict has induced a de facto renegotiation of the power balance between the central authority in Damascus—itself a traditionally centralized actor—and emerging local powers. Internally, this has led all players to invest at the local level in order to preserve (or establish) power. External actors have also contributed to this process of localization, though their military and humanitarian roles.
The Carnegie Middle East Center—in partnership with the International Crisis Group—brought together two panels to discuss localization and self-administration in Syria. The first panel assessed how “localization” both impacts and is exploited by primary actors on the ground inside Syria. The second panel discussed how these local dynamics impact the strategies and policies pursued by the conflict's external actors, and the challenges and opportunities they present moving forward.
Program
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM | Predominance of Local Dynamics
Maria Fantappie, senior analyst on Iraq at the International Crisis Group
Sam Heller, fellow at the Century Foundation
Ammar Kahf, executive director of Omran for Strategic Studies and a member of the Board of Directors of the Syrian Forum
Moderator: Kheder Khaddour, nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center
1:00 – 2:00 PM | Lunch Break
2:00 – 3:30 PM | Strategies and Policies of External Actors
Malik al-Abdeh, consultant at Humanitarian Dialogue Center
Noah Bonsey, senior analyst on Syria at the International Crisis Group
Peter Harling, founder and director of Synaps
Moderator: Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center
Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Event Speakers
Malik al-Abdeh
Malik al-Abdeh is a consultant for the Humanitarian Dialogue Center.
Noah Bonsey
Former Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Middle East Center
Maria Luisa Fantappie is Head of the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa Programme at IAI. She served as Special Adviser at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva (2020-2023) and at the International Crisis Group (2012-2020), engaging at the highest level of policy in Europe, the United States and across MENA (Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Oman and United Arab Emirates).
Peter Harling
Sam Heller
is a fellow at The Century Foundation.
Ammar Kahf
Nonresident Scholar, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Kheder Khaddour is a nonresident scholar at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. His research focuses on tribal structures in the Levant, civil-military relations in Syria, and the role of borders in shaping local and national identities across the Middle East.
Director, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Maha Yahya is director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where her research focuses on citizenship, pluralism, and social justice in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings.