The Syria Study Group (SSG) was established by Congress with the purpose of examining and making recommendations on the military and diplomatic strategy of the United States with respect to the conflict in Syria. The SSG is a bi-partisan working group composed of 12 participants each appointed by a member of Congress for the duration of the study.

The U.S. Institute of Peace was mandated by Congress to facilitate the Syria Study Group based on USIP’s demonstrated expertise in convening Congressionally-directed study groups. Please note that the content of the report is solely that of the Syria Study Group and does not represent the views of USIP.

Over the course of the past several months, the SSG reviewed current U.S. objectives and the desired end state in Syria. This included conducting a comprehensive assessment of the current situation, its impact on neighboring countries, the resulting regional and geopolitical threats to the U.S., and current military, diplomatic, and political efforts to achieve a stable Syria. The Group submitted the final consensus report with the SSG’s findings to Congress on September 24, 2019.

A man selling watermelon in front of buildings destroyed by government forces in eastern Aleppo, Syria, June 23, 2019. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times)

Public Event

Syria Study Group Releases Final Report

Thursday, September 26 | 2:30pm - 4:30pm

The Syria Study Group hosted a panel discussion and presentation of the final report’s assessments and recommendations. The event included keynote addresses from Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who spearheaded the creation of the bipartisan study group, and Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT).

Co-Chairs

Michael Singh

Mr. Michael Singh

Michael Singh is the managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a nonpartisan think tank dedicated to advancing American interests in the Middle East.  Mr. Singh was senior director for Near East and North African Affairs at the White House from 2007-2008, and director for several Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Syria, on the NSC staff from 2005-2007.

Earlier, Mr. Singh served as special assistant to Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, as well as staff aide to the US ambassador to Israel.  He co-chaired Gov. Mitt Romney’s State Department transition team in 2012, and served as a Middle East advisor to the Romney presidential campaign from 2011-2012. 

Mr. Singh has served as an adjunct fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Security at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and as an economics instructor at Harvard College.  His writings have appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Economist, International Security, and elsewhere, and he has appeared as a commentator on CNN, NBC, Fox News, and other outlets.  

He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics summa cum laude from Princeton University and an MBA with high distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard University.

Dana Stroul

Ms. Dana Stroul

Dana Stroul is a senior fellow in The Washington Institute's Beth and David Geduld Program on Arab Politics. She previously served for five years as a senior professional staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she covered the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey. In that capacity, she played a central role in the oversight of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which included overseeing U.S. foreign assistance and weapons sales, as well as crafting relevant legislation.

Before working on Capitol Hill, Stroul served in the Middle East policy office of the Secretary of Defense. From 2008 to 2013, she focused on a range of topics including U.S.-Egypt relations, the U.S. military drawdown in Iraq, and a review of U.S. government policies and programs in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. In addition, Stroul also worked at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on economic-political affairs, at the U.S. Institute of Peace on civilian-military relations in Iraq, and at the National Democratic Institute on Gulf Affairs. 

Syria Study Group Executive Director

Mona Yacoubian
Senior Advisor for Syria, Middle East and North Africa, U.S. Institute Peace

Members

  • LTG Charles Cleveland (U.S. Army, Ret.)
    Adjunct, RAND Corporation
    Former Commanding General, U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC)
  • Ms. Melissa Dalton
    Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Ambassador Frederic Hof
    Diplomat in Residence, Bard College
  • Dr. Mara Karlin
    Director of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
    Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
  • The Honorable Mark Kirk
    Former U.S. Senator, Illinois 

For too long, the United States has lacked and overarching strategy to respond to the tragic civil war in Syria, which is why I’m very pleased that the Syria Study Group will soon begin its critical work. Now more than ever, we need a thorough and independent top-to-bottom review of U.S. policy in Syria. I’m very grateful for the willingness of the distinguished experts to serve on this panel and for the help of bipartisan congressional leadership, including the late Senator John McCain, who helped shepherd this provision through the Senate. I believe that having a strategy at long last will be a great testament to Senator McCain’s legacy, and I look forward to reviewing the group’s recommendations.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

Related Publications

The U.S. ‘Cannot Avoid or Ignore’ the War in Syria

The U.S. ‘Cannot Avoid or Ignore’ the War in Syria

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

By: USIP Staff

A new, congressionally mandated study on Syria policy urges the United States to maintain a military presence and sanctions pressure against the Assad regime, and to help build alternative governance in areas beyond the regime’s rule. The bipartisan Syria Study Group, appointed by Congress, stresses that ISIS in Syria remains a potent threat to the region and to U.S. national security. The Syria Study Group discussed its report at USIP, which at Congress’ direction facilitated the group’s work.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyReconciliationViolent Extremism

Syria Study Group Final Report

Syria Study Group Final Report

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

By:

The United States cannot avoid or ignore the conflict in Syria. From the outset of hostilities, minimizing American involvement in the war and safeguarding U.S. national security interests have proven to be incompatible goals. This will remain the case for the foreseeable future. The essential question before American policymakers is not whether the United States should keep or with- draw its forces in Syria, but what strategy and mix of tools will best protect the United States from the conflict’s reverberations and advance American interests. This report sets out such a strategy.

Type: Special Report

Global PolicyReconciliation

View All

Latest Publications

Keith Mines on the Collapse of Haiti’s Governance

Keith Mines on the Collapse of Haiti’s Governance

Monday, March 18, 2024

By: Keith Mines

With the governing structure now collapsing, Haitian gangs “have the country in a stranglehold,” says USIP’s Keith Mines, and that the best path to re-establish stability is “to form a new transitional government that would be more inclusive, that would have better connections to the Haitian people.”

Type: Podcast

Global Policy

Building Trust through Health Cooperation with North Korea

Building Trust through Health Cooperation with North Korea

Monday, March 18, 2024

By: Kee B. Park

The United States needs to address the existing trust deficit with North Korea if it wants to coexist peacefully with that country. Trust building through health cooperation may be the least contentious way politically and the most likely to succeed. However, engagement on health and humanitarian assistance with North Korea, like security negotiations, has been undermined by geopolitics.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

War and the Church in Ukraine

War and the Church in Ukraine

Thursday, March 14, 2024

By: Peter Mandaville, Ph.D.

Vladimir Putin’s war to reverse Ukraine’s independence includes religion. For centuries, the Russian Orthodox Church bolstered Moscow’s rule by wielding ecclesiastical authority over Ukrainian churches. Since early 2019, Ukraine has had a self-governing Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Russia’s invasion has sharpened tensions between it and the rival branch historically linked to Moscow. Any conciliation between them could shrink areas for conflict — and the Kremlin’s ability to stir chaos — in a postwar Ukraine. It would bolster Ukraine’s future stability and reinforce a decline in Russia’s historically massive influence across the Orthodox Christian world. But can Ukrainians make that happen?

Type: Analysis

Religion

Lauren Baillie on the ICC’s Latest Warrants for Russian War Crimes

Lauren Baillie on the ICC’s Latest Warrants for Russian War Crimes

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

By: Lauren Baillie

For the first time, the International Criminal Court has charged high-level Russian commanders with crimes against humanity — showing that Russia’s assault on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine is “not sporadic, it’s systematic, it’s purposeful, it’s part of a policy,” says USIP’s Lauren Baillie.

Type: Podcast

View All Publications