Where: King’s College London
When: 13-14 May 2025
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 at King’s College London on 13-14 May.
If you would like to RSVP for this in-person event, please register here.
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
09:45-10:00 Welcoming remarks from Dr Shiraz Maher, ICSR
10:00-11:15 Panel 1: Diplomatic Engagement with Damascus
- Rima Maktabi, Al Arabiya (chair)
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
12:45-14:00 Sandwich lunch for all attendees
14:00-15:15 Panel 3: Jihadist Future and Foreign Fighters
- Dr Jerome Drevon, International Crisis Group
- Orwa Ajjoub, Malmö University
- Dr Shiraz Maher, ICSR
- Mina al-Lami, BBC Monitoring
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, ISIS Prisons Museum
Wednesday, May 14th
09:00-10:00 Arrival and registration of participants
10:00-11:15 Panel 5: The Role of Women in the New Syria
- Zaina Erhaim, Journalist
- Jelnar Ahmad, IMPACT Research
11:30-12:45 Panel 6: Syria’s Political Economy
- Zaki Mehchy, London School of Economics
- Karim Khwanda, Syria Gulf Bank
- Dr Joseph Daher, University of Lausanne
12:45-14:00 Sandwich lunch for all attendees
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
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
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.