Building Blocks Towards Peace in Syria

A successful resolution to the ongoing conflicts in Syria will require effective governance and security provisions. Yet existing governance and security structures on both the regime and rebel sides of the conflict have suffered after years of war. What is the current state of governance in Syria and where should Syria go from here? 

New America welcomes Dr. Ammar Kahf and M. Yaser Tabbara, the co-founders of the Omran Center for Strategic Studies for a discussion of these issues. Dr. Ammar Kahf is the Executive Director of the Omran Center for Strategic Studies and a Board Member of the Syrian Forum, an organization that seeks to empower Syrians to take control of their own lives. He earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California Los Angeles. His dissertation was entitled: Syrian Authoritarianism: Persistence or Change. He served as the Chief of Staff to Secretary General of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (2012 –2013). M. Yaser Tabbara is a Board Member of the Omran Center for Strategic Studies and a Strategic and Legal Advisor to the Syrian Forum. He earned a Juris Doctor Degree from Depaul University in Chicago and is a practicing attorney at law and managing partner of Chicago-based ZKT Law, LLC with a focus on civil rights and international law. He served as Senior Advisor to the Syrian Interim Government Prime Minister in 2013. In 2006, he was an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Kalamoon, Damascus. He was a Research Assistant to Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni at the International Human Rights Law Institute, Chicago, between 2000 and 2002, where he focused on the International Criminal Court. 

Follow the discussion online using #Syria and following @NewAmericaISP. 

PARTICIPANTS 

Ammar Kahf
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Omran Center for Strategic Studies 

M. Yaser Tabbara
Co-Founder and Board Member, Omran Center for Strategic Studies 

MODERATOR 

Robert L. McKenzie
Senior Fellow and Director, Muslim Diaspora Initiative, New America