We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting a major two-day conference, discussing the future of Syria after the fall of the Assad regime. This event will take place on 13-14 May.

This event will be in person and is likely to be oversubscribed, so early registration is strongly encouraged. Please note that registration does not automatically confirm attendance. Registrants will receive an email with further details once their place is confirmed.

Read on for the provisional conference programme. This is not a finalised schedule, as we are waiting on further confirmations.

 

Tuesday, May 13th

09:00 – 09:45 – Arrival and Registration of Participants

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09:45 – 10:00 – Welcoming Remarks from Dr Shiraz Maher, ICSR

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10:00 – 11:15 – Panel 1: Diplomatic Engagement with Damascus

• Rima Maktabi, Al Arabiya (chair)

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11:30 – 12:45 – Panel 2: Political Transition of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)

• Noah Bonsey, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
• Dr Haid Haid, Chatham House
• Mazen Gharibah, London School of Economics
• Dr Aaron Zelin, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• Dareen Khalifa, International Crisis Group

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12:45 – 14:00 – Sandwich Lunch for all Attendees

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14:00 – 15:15 – Panel 3: Jihadist Future and Foreign Fighters

• Rym Momtaz, International Institute for Strategic Studies (chair)
• Dr Jerome Drevon, International Crisis Group
• Orwa Ajjoub, Malmö University
• Dr Shiraz Maher, ICSR
• Mina al-Lami, BBC Monitoring

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15:30 – 16:45 – Panel 4: Transitional Justice

• Murtaza Hussain, Drop Site (chair)
• Raya Homsi, The Syria Campaign
• Mouhanad Sharabati, Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression
• Karla Quintana, Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic
• Robin Yassin-Kassab, Prisons Museum

 

Wednesday, May 14th

09:00 – 10:00 – Arrival and Registration of Participants

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10:00 – 11:15 – Panel 5: The Role of Women in the New Syria

• Zaina Erhaim, Journalist
• Jelnar Ahmad, Consultant
• Fadi Hallisso, Basmeh & Zeitooneh

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11:30 – 12:45 – Panel 6: Syria’s Political Economy

• Nour Al Ali, Bloomberg (chair)
• Zaki Mehchy, London School of Economics
• Karim Khwanda, Syria Gulf Bank
• Dr Joseph Daher, University of Lausanne

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12:45 – 14:00 – Sandwich Lunch for all Attendees

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14:00 – 15:15 – Panel 7: Disinformation, Online Campaigns and the Role of Arabi Media

• Dania Akkad, Middle East Eye (chair)
• Fadah Jassem, The National
• Razan Rashidi, The Syria Campaign
• Zouhir Al-Shimale, Verify Syria

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15:30 – 16:45 – Panel 8: Insights from Syria’s Rebel Fighters

• Michael Weiss, The Insider (chair)
• Dr Rahaf Aldoughli, Lancaster University
• Dr Nafees Hamid, ICSR
• Broderick McDonald, University of Oxford
• Nils Mallock, ICSR

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16:45 – 17:00 – Closing Remarks from Dr Shiraz Maher, ICSR

 

Throughout the conference we will be offering opportunities to participate in Nobody’s Listening: The Forgotten Voices of Sinjar; a ground-breaking virtual reality experience that transports viewers to northern Iraq using a blend of 360-degree documentary film-making, stunning Yazidi artwork and the latest virtual reality technology. A unique branching narrative set in Kocho village, Sinjar, enables users to hear from a young Yazidi woman abducted and sexually enslaved by ISIS, from her brother who survives a massacre, and from an ISIS fighter who attacks the village.

You can book your slot for this experience here.