The Syrian conflict has entered its 11th year with no viable political solution in sight. In the last few years there have been fewer battles and missile and aerial attacks, but new forms of violence have emerged and humanitarian needs continue to grow.

Covid-19 added a layer of vulnerability, as the fragmentation of the Syrian territory and governance system prevented the adoption of a common, national strategy to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. As a consequence of these multiple crises, communities across the country are struggling to find a pathway out of fragility.

Track and monitor the implementation of peace and transition processes for Syria via the PA-X Tracker.

The landscape of the Syrian conflict is divided and fragmented in many shapes and forms. Our research explores how this fragmentation plays out in practice, across different areas of control and at different levels of public authority. PeaceRep researchers survey how local power dynamics interact with international interests, the ways that different actors practice their public authority across Syria, and how public perceptions of legitimacy impact on fragmentation.

Our research strands explore opportunities for peace, conflict resolution and civicness, by asking how different actors at multiple levels of fragmentation understand themselves to have projects of positive change, and agency to work towards that change. We are examining the potential of multiple vectors – Covid-19, the private sector, humanitarian aid, technology, and existing local practices – to contribute to peaceful pathways out of conflict, through the wider PeaceRep theme of Fragmentation.

Our Syria research utilises and supports innovative PeaceTech development. This innovation includes: using bespoke secure data collection platforms, creating new ways of visualising fragmentation through interactive tools, and exploring the potential of new technologies, such as Blockchain, to aid the work of civil society and humanitarian organisations in conflict zones. Our PeaceTech innovation is rooted in long-standing partnerships and networks with researchers in Syria, and is supported by rigorous qualitative methods of knowledge co-creation.

PeaceRep’s Syria work is underpinned by our Peace and Conflict Resolution Tracker, a new data dashboard which brings together different types of data and information to help monitor peace and transition agreement implementation. The components of the interface are intended to facilitate new ways of seeing conflict and also potential opportunities for settlement.  The tracker includes a timeline of formal change processes since 1990; an overview of past formal settlement agreements, drawn from the PA-X Peace Agreements Database; and an overview of recent changes in the peace and conflict landscape through high-level metrics.

Team

PeaceRep’s Syria work involves the LSE-based Syria research group, University of Edinburgh-based Syria researchers and digital team, and regional research partner LACU.

The Syria research team is led by Rim Turkmani of the LSE Conflict and Civicness Research Group, in collaboration with Mazen Gharibah and Zaki Mehchy. Research on fragmentation and governance is undertaken by Juline Beaujouan at University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with partners based in Syria, Jordan and Turkey.