The Department of Strategic Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at the University of Baghdad held a scientific workshop under the title: The Future of the Middle East after the Fall of the Bashar al-Assad Regime, which was chaired by Dr. Ayman Ahmed Mohammed, Head of the Department, which witnessed a wide participation of researchers and academics in our center.
The workshop, presented by Dr. Khaled Tariq Abdul Razzaq, a researcher at our center, included a discussion of the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which is a pivotal moment in the history of the Middle East. However, in Syria, a major challenge awaits us in determining how and what form the transition will take, which began in Doha last weekend at the Astana 3 meetings, where the international community met in various bilateral and multilateral formats to discuss the next steps.
He added that all actors are determined to deal with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), despite its designation as a terrorist organization, but HTS will need a seat at the table, and most regional and international actors are now proactively communicating with the group, which has become a major player in the Syrian arena de facto and as a matter of responsibility.