In December 2024, the reign of the Assad regime came to an end in Syria. This discussion with Joshua Landis will address the challenges facing Syrians in the coming years, as they seek to rebuild their country after 13 years of civil war and 53 years of authoritarian rule. Topics to include: the fears of communal violence; the spectres of Al Qaeda and ISIS; Syria’s relationships with Russia, Iran, and the Arab states; and the role of the international community.
About the panel:
Joshua Landis is Sandra Mackey Chair and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and the Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma in the Boren College of International Studies. He writes and manages SyriaComment.com, a daily newsletter on Syrian politics and publishes frequently in policy journals such as Foreign Affairs, Middle East Policy and Foreign Policy. His book, “Syria at Independence: Nationalism, Leadership, and Failure of Republicanism”, will be published by the Arab Center for Research and Policy studies this coming year. He is a frequent analyst on TV, radio, and in print and is a regular on NPR and the BBC.
Elias Muhanna is associate professor of comparative literature and history, and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Brown University. He is a scholar of medieval and early modern Islamic history, and also publishes commentary on modern Middle Eastern politics and culture in the mainstream press. He has written for The New Yorker, The London Review of Books, The New York Times, The Nation, and other periodicals.
Nina Tannenwald is senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Political Science. Her research focuses on the role of international institutions, norms and ideas in global security issues, efforts to control weapons of mass destruction, and human rights and the laws of war. Her book, “The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Nonuse of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945” (Cambridge University Press, 2007), won the 2009 Lepgold Prize for best book in international relations.