The Syrian Tragedy: Ending the Bloodshed

Description

Associated Program:
John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum
Speakers:
Joseph Bahout
Fred Hof
Mona Yacoubian
Meghan O’Sullivan

Meghan O’Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, moderated a discussion on “The Syrian Tragedy: Ending the Bloodshed,” among Fred Hof, Senior Fellow at The Alantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Joseph Bahout, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Sciences Po Paris, and Mona Yacoubian, senior advisor on the Middle East at the Stimson Center. Panelists addressed topics including the current situation on the ground in Syria, the regional implications of the ongoing conflict, American interests in Syria, and the framework agreement for the elimination of the regime’s chemical weapons arsenal. Questions from the audience addressed the challenges of access and funding in efforts to provide humanitarian aid, the possible contours of a political settlement to the conflict, the extent of al-Qaeda or jihadist elements among the rebels, and long-term U.S. strategy toward Syria.