More than a year and counting after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad, Syria faces a complex set of challenges during its transition to a new future. From comprehensive and sustainable governance reform to meaningfully addressing a long history of systemic mass repression both during the recent civil war and during the Assad regime’s earlier repression, the processes that lie ahead are immense, and the stakes – both regionally, and for Syrians – are high. In a new Just Security series curated by myself and Maya Nir (with installments listed below as they are published), a diverse array of experts analyze those dynamics to understand the opportunities and potential pitfalls for Syria in transition, as well as for the region and for the international community.
Assad’s downfall in December 2024, after decades of brutality and more than 12 years of intensive armed conflict in Syria, came in a shockingly swift and decisive offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al Shams (HTS) (formerly Jabhat al Nusra), a Sunni Islamist organization that splintered from al-Qaeda, and that many considered a terrorist organization. On Jan. 29, 2025, former HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was appointed as transitional president of Syria.
The civil war itself, which exploded in 2011, was complex, layered, and replete with atrocities. The conflict involved a wide range of foreign and domestic actors, including the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies, the U.S.-backed Kurdish and other local opposition forces, Turkish ground troops, ISIS, HTS itself, and at times a U.S.-led coalition of States.
Mass atrocities were, tragically, a hallmark of the armed conflict. These included systemic torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, flagrantly indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure (including schools, hospitals and healthcare workers, and journalists), the use of chemical weapons, and a wide range of other violations. As early as 2016, opposition-held cities like Aleppo had been so severely razed by the use of weapons such as barrel bombs that aerial images of the city resembled the cratered surface of the moon.
Although the December 2024 transition appears to have curbed the most acute of these atrocities, the work is far from done – and a successful transformation of Syria into a country with democratic, rights-respecting governance is far from certain. Sharaa inherits an extraordinarily complicated situation, with long-standing societal divisions and a host of institutional hurdles. He is also himself a polarizing figure, with his own complicated history and alliances. Already the fragile peace is showing signs of strain (see also here), and regional tensions are testing the stability of the new government. This transitional period marks a critical juncture for Syria, with decisions made now poised to have long-term implications for stability and the prevention of a return to conflict.
Dramatic institutional reforms are critical to address the fault lines that facilitated the long trail of abuses before and during the armed conflict, as is a framework of effective accountability for those responsible. Both international and domestic actors have developed frameworks for a transition, which address these issues to varying degrees. The 2015 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 theoretically sets the framework for a Syrian transition to “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance,” calling for a new permanent constitution and free and fair elections pursuant to that constitution. Domestically, Sharaa’s March 2025 Constitutional Decree provides a potential foundation for the prosecutions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide through the domestic Syrian system (although much more remains to be done on that front), but observers have also criticized elements of the decree as an attempt to consolidate executive power, among a range of other issues. Two subsequent May 2025 presidential decrees established two new institutions focused on transitional justice. Parliamentary elections were held in October 2025, with mixed results (particularly as to the inclusion of women and ethnic and religious minorities).
In this Just Security series, topics range from accountability, reconciliation, and institutional reform, to constitutionalism, the lifting of sanctions and their import for transitional Syria, the ongoing and urgent issues related to camps and prisons for those accused of association with ISIS in northeast Syria, and more. Each of these topics share a central theme: as Syria undergoes this pivotal transition, now is not the time to look away.
New articles will be added to the series regularly, and can be readily accessed from this page. Please check back for additions throughout the coming months.
- Caesar Act Repeal and the Syria Sanctions Removal Report Card by Rachel Alpert and Garrett Salzman (December 19, 2025)
- We Told You So: Now What for Northeast Syria? by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin KC (Hons) and Anne Charbord (January 27, 2026)
- Transitional Justice in Post-Assad Syria: A Transformative Framework for Accountability and Reform by Fadel Abdulghany and Ruti Teitel (March 24, 2026)
- Transitional Justice in Syria: Domestic-Led Accountability Efforts Cannot Function in Isolation by Rebecca Hamilton and Anya Neistat (March 30, 2026)
- An Urgent Call to Break the Cycle of Division and Exclusion in Syria by Deyaa Alrwishdi (April 17, 2026)
- Taking a Closer Look at Syria’s Economy: Accountability or Business as Usual for Assad’s Cronies? by Noor Hamadeh (May 6, 2026)
- Building Justice After Assad: Syria’s Accountability Dilemma and Pathways to Justice by Hanny Megally (May 12, 2026)
- Starvation on Trial: Koblenz and the Case of Yarmouk by Alexandria Virginski (May 19, 2026)
- The Search for the Missing in Syria: Learning from the Past by Karla I. Quintana O. (May 29, 2026).
- Syria’s Accountability Gap: The Najib Trial and the Case for the ICC by Fadel Abdulghany and Kenneth Roth (June 3, 2026).
