Pillar II: Levant Stabilization

This pillar will bring to together regional, international, and local stakeholders to advance post-conflict stabilization and economic recovery in Syria, Lebanon, and beyond

The Middle East Program will serve as the pre-eminent convening space for all key stakeholders engaged in early recovery, post-conflict stabilization and economic development, with a focus on Syria and Lebanon. This work will center on activities designed to engage key stakeholders involved in stabilization and reconstruction efforts as well as to inform U.S. and regional policymakers. It will convene key Gulf stakeholders, US, and international community interlocutors (e.g., USG, World Bank, United Nations), and INGOs, as well as Syrian and Lebanese stakeholders. Specifically, this pillar will look to connect the “missing link” of technical expertise and deep experience embodied by former USAID, multilaterals, INGOs and other implementers to Gulf funders and stabilizing countries. More broadly, this pillar will explore new models of post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction that will evolve as part of the region's emerging order. It will develop insights and knowledge on the emerging assistance landscape, a new “ecosystem” that includes private sector funders, investment-led approaches and new tools, including the innovative use of AI.

This initiative is made possible by general support to CSIS.

Contact Information

Ninar Fawal
Program Manager and Research Associate, Middle East Program
[email protected]

Featured Analysis

Photo: Manon Roca / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

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Photo: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Risk to Refugee Return

Newsletter by Ninar Fawal — October 22, 2026

Photo: Abdel Hameed Al Nasier/ILO via Flickr

The Price of Exclusion

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Featured Event

Civil Society Perspectives on Lebanon’s Reform Agenda

Presented by Middle East Program

October 28, 2026 • 9:00 – 10:00 am EDT

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Photo: Omar Albaw / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

The Self-Reliance Dividend: The Imperative of Syrian Refugees’ Economic Inclusion

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Report by Will Todman — October 5, 2026

Featured Video

The Need for a New Refugee Response in the Middle East

International donors have spent tens of billions of dollars on the response to Syrian refugees in the Middle East over the last 15 years, but most refugees remain dependent on aid, excluded from formal labor markets, burdened by debt, and ill-prepared to rebuild their lives in a post-Assad Syria. However, a new geopolitical opening has emerged that makes a radical rethinking of the refugee response possible.

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Featured Project

Lebanon’s Growing Humanitarian Crisis

A humanitarian emergency is growing among Lebanese. Overlaps in humanitarian responses risk fueling tensions and wasting limited aid resources. CSIS's Will Todman and Caleb Harper argue that an independent review is necessary to maximize the effectiveness of humanitarian aid.

Brief by Will Todman and Caleb Harper — December 16, 2021