10
March 2017
Past Event
The Syrian Crisis: American Interests and Moral Considerations

The Syrian Crisis: American Interests and Moral Considerations

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
March 10, 2017
A Kurdish Syrian woman walks with her child past the ruins of the town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on March 25, 2015. (YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)
Caption
A Kurdish Syrian woman walks with her child past the ruins of the town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on March 25, 2015. (YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)
10
March 2017
Past Event

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:
Rebeccah Heinrichs

Fellow, Hudson Institute

michael_doran
Michael Doran

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

Marc LiVecche

Managing Editor, Providence Magazine and Scholar, Institute on Religion and Democracy

Nina Shea
Nina Shea

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Religious Freedom

After nearly six years, Syria remains locked in a bloody civil war while Iran and Russia continue to be President Bashar al-Assad’s primary enablers. Assad’s Syria offers Iran an important supply line to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. The war has taken the lives of more than 400,000 Syrians and has displaced more than 9 million, creating a refugee crisis that has been felt around the world.

U.S. response to the Syrian civil war has been inconsistent. President Obama lacked a coherent strategy for dealing with Syria and infamously chose inaction after Assad used chemical weapons on his own people. President Trump has made it clear that he intends to refocus U.S. efforts abroad and pursue a foreign policy focused primarily on American interests. He has, along with his Secretaries of State and Defense, signaled a willingness to take a very different approach to Syria.

What are the most pressing U.S. interests in the outcome of the Syrian civil war? What moral obligation, if any, does the U.S. have to help the region regain stability and to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people? What options are before the Trump administration, and do those options take into consideration both U.S. security and humanitarian concerns? To address these questions and more, Hudson Institute and Providence Magazine hosted a March 10 panel discussion with Marc LiVecche, managing editor of Providence Magazine, and Hudson fellows Michael Doran, Nina Shea, and Rebeccah Heinrichs.

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