The extreme violence that dominated the scene in Syria over the last eight years shifted attention away from the deep structural transformations affecting the country’s economy and governance structures. The Political Economy and Governance in Syria Report highlights some of these transformations through the presentations made by leading Syria experts at the Political Economy and Governance in Syria’ conference held on 3 December 2018 at the LSE.

Download the Political Economy and Governance in Syria Report.

Dr Rim Turkmani (@Rim_Turkmani) will present a summary of the report findings.

Dr Omar Abdulaziz-Hallaj will discuss the political economy of Syria’s constitution and how proposals put forward through the UN-led Geneva process for new political institutions and power sharing will affect the political game in Syria, beyond the limited ability of the current political stakeholders to manage outcomes. Socio-economic transformations during the conflict will have long impacts on local and national elites. A new constitution will have to negotiate the emerging interests of a post-conflict political economy.

Mahmoud Ramadan will discuss why the humanitarian paradigm in Syria needs to be transformed. Focusing on needs alone have created dependencies and diminished resilience. His presentation will discuss how to move from a needs to an asset-based community development, focussing on basic approaches to aggregate community capital in order to enable people to survive and open up emerging future possibilities for re-development and healing.

Speaker bios:

Dr. Turkmani is the Research Director for Syria on the Conflict Research Programme in the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit at LSE. Her policy-oriented research work focuses on the construction of legitimacy, identity politics, and the political economy of Syria. In all her work there is a focus on a civil society perspective of the conflict, and its role in resolving it.

Omar Abdulaziz-Hallaj is a consultant on urban planning, development and local governance. He is co-coordinator of the Syria Project at the Common Space Initiative in Beirut, where he is engaged in facilitating various dialogue and research projects for peace building and recovery planning in Syria.

Mahmoud Ramadan is the manager of Playmakers LLC consultancy. He is co-founder of Syria Initiative at the Common Space Initiative in Beirut, and founder/board member of the Diaspora Network Alliance in Brussels. Mahmoud believes in active citizenship, which led him to serve as a City Councilor in Aleppo from 2003 -2007. Between 2008 – 2010 he became the Manager of Aleppo City Development Strategy 2025 (Madinatuna).

Professor Mary Kaldor (@LSE_CCS) is the Director of The Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit at LSE and Professor of Global Governance. Professor Kaldor pioneered the concept of new wars and global civil society and her work on the practical implementation of human security has directly influenced European and national politics.

A limited number of hard copy reports will be available at the event on a first-come-first-served basis.