Minorities in the New Syria: Threats, Opportunities, and Future Prospects

About the Event

Since the 2011 uprising and subsequent civil war, Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities have borne heavy costs amid threats from multiple warring actors. The fate of these communities has come under sharp focus following recent massacres targeting Druze and Alawite groups since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last December. Smaller religious minorities, including Christians and Yezidis, have also suffered deeply over the past decade and a half, primarily due to attacks by radical jihadi groups.

Syria’s Kurdish population, too, has endured grave abuses, including mass expulsions, detentions, killings, and property seizures in northern Syria by rebel factions during 2018 and 2019.

This online panel will explore the challenges facing Syria’s minorities in the post-Assad era—their aspirations, struggles for representation, and continued exposure to violence and insecurity—as well as their prospects in an evolving Syrian state. The discussion will also examine how external actors, including the United States and Europe, can use their leverage to help ensure fairer conditions and more equitable outcomes for these communities.

Speakers