Steven Heydemann

Several Syrian opposition activists engaged in a project known as “The Day After” appeared at the USIP on October 4 to discuss the challenges of achieving a post-Assad democratic transition amid intensifying violence, militarization of the revolution, sectarian tensions and repression by the Syrian regime.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said that the U.N.’s Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when he travels to the country later this week.

USIP's senior adviser for Middle East initiatives, Steven Heydemann, discusses “The Day After” project, a Syrian-led effort to plan for a post-Assad transition.

The U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a group of senior Pakistani media representatives June 19 to discuss the complex role that the new Pakistani media plays in shaping both domestic and international policies. 

One week after the first United Nation monitors arrived in Syria to oversee implementation of the peace plan negotiated by U.N. Special Envoy Kofi Annan, conditions on the ground have already made it irrelevant. What remains to be seen is how long it will take for the international community to acknowledge its failure and press ahead with its collective efforts to bring about a democratic transition in Syria.

Syrian forces continued to pound cities across the nation, despite a United Nations-brokered peace plan that was to end violence in the 13-month anti-government uprising. According to the U.N. plan, Syrian forces were to pull back from cities by April 10, and a ceasefire would go in effect on April 12.  

The uprising started last year, along with other “Arab Spring” revolutions taking place in Middle East and North African nations. But by far, the Syrian government’s response has become the most deadly and most brutal. The United Nations estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since the revolution started last March.

As Western and Arab powers established a Friends of Syria Group, USIP’s Steven Heydemann examines the group’s agenda – and the top priorities for the U.S.

After several days of intensive negotiation, Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Saturday, February 4 that would have required Syria to implement the terms of an Arab League transition framework. USIP's Steve Heydemann assesses the current situation.

USIP's Steven Heydemann moderates a discussion about the Arab Awakening with the Institute's Stephen Hadley and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Marwan Muasher.

Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) are closely following developments throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In a series of reports and interviews, they cover a wide range of issues.

The Institute invited leading experts from the U.S. and across the Middle East to identify key vectors of influence Syria’s neighbors are bringing to bear on the conflict; to forecast how the on-going conflict in Syria will affect the delicate and volatile regional balance of power; and to examine how the Syrian opposition and the Syria regime are factoring in regional and cross-border dynamics.

There is little doubt the creation of a unified front among the various dissident groups in Syria is a positive development for their cause. But it remains unclear if it reflects a true "coalescing" of all the different rebel voices, or if the group can grow into an effective political force capable of being seen as a viable alternative to the Assad regime.

Last week, Yemen’s President Ali Abdallah Saleh -- who remains in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries incurred in a bomb attack on the presidential compound in June -- announced that he had delegated authority to his vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to sign an agreement negotiated through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last spring that would remove Saleh from power.

To honor this worldwide event, USIP presents some highlights of peacebuilding around the world in 2011.

USIP’s Steve Heydemann writes about what led to Yemeni President Saleh’s departure – and the potential end to his rule.

USIP’s Steve Heydemann in Beirut, Lebanon discusses the latest developments in Syria, the regional response to the U.S.’s recently announced sanctions on the Syrian government, and what the region will want to hear in President Barack Obama’s speech.

USIP’s Special Adviser, Muslim World Initiative Steve Heydemann; Senior Program Officer Col. Paul Hughes; Military Fellow Col. John Maraia; and South Asia Adviser Moeed Yusuf react to Osama bin Laden's death.

USIP’s Steven Heydemann discusses the recent developments in Syria. The following is a slightly modified version of his interview with the online magazine, Jaddaliya.

USIP’s Steven Heydemann, a leading expert on Middle East politics, answers questions about the unfolding situation in Yemen.

Expert Steven Heydemann discusses how the current events in Libya could impact the region and the history of the U.S.'s relationship with Libya in the wake of recent violence and protests.

The U.S. Institute of Peace continues to follow the developments in Egypt and the Middle East.  Read about USIP's work on Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle East, work on national security issues, democratization, and more.

Facilitated by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Stimson Center, "Engagement, Coercion, and Iran's Nuclear Challenge" is the culmination of recommendations from a distinguished group of more than 40 scholars and policy analysts, who met regularly over the past year to evaluate how the U.S. should proceed in its strategy with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World highlights the challenges that escalating identity conflicts within Muslim-majority states pose for both the Muslim world and for the West, an issue that has received scant attention in policy and academic circles.