A look at how to sever the link between criminality and conflict in Syria.
Samer Abboud is no longer with the Carnegie Endowment.
Samer Abboud was a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center, where his research focused on the political economy of the Syrian conflict, with a particular emphasis on the matter of capital flight and its implications on Syria’s reconstruction. He is also an assistant professor of history and international studies at Arcadia University.
In summer 2013, Abboud will be a resident fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, where he has been awarded an Arab Transformation Fellowship for his “Economic Elites and the Syrian Uprising: Negotiating Conflict, Managing Transformation” project. He will explore the multidirectional pressures placed on Syria’s economic elite during the uprising and their postconflict implications.
Abboud has published extensively on Syria’s political economy, including two monographs on Syrian trade and marketization. His work has been featured in a number of edited collections, including: Economic Transformation and Diffusion of Authoritarian Power in Syria (2012); Antinomies of Economic Governance in Contemporary Syria (with Fred Lawson, 2012); and Locating the “Social” in the Social Market Economy (forthcoming in 2013). Abboud has contributed regularly to numerous media outlets, such as Al-Jazeera English, HuffingtonPost Live, and Jadaliyya.
A look at how to sever the link between criminality and conflict in Syria.
It is useful to consider what processes are implicated in the ongoing reconstruction experiences of Iraq and Lebanon and what, in turn, these experiences can reveal about the Syrian case moving forward.
The National Coalition opposition alliance has finally announced its long-awaited provisional government. It is an important development, but will not likely have a major impact on the everyday life of Syrians in the short term.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will host one-day conference with high-level experts focusing on the political, socio-economic, and regional implications of the ongoing conflict in Syria and efforts to construct a new Syrian state.
Sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the League of Arab States are aggravating Syria's already poor economy and have made the government increasingly reliant on its few remaining allies.