News and Events

Former Shattuck Center Fellow Armenak Tokmajyan has recently been awarded the Giustra Fellowship for Conflict Prevention at the International Crisis Group. Based in Istanbul, he will research issues related to Syria and expects to conduct fieldwork in places like eastern Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and European cities where there are large numbers of Syrian refugees.

Aid recipients, particularly those working through complex political transitions, often struggle to understand the motives and methods of donors, ending up all too often submerged with well-intentioned help that causes more confusion than anything else, according to a new report released on September 5th that was authored by two experts linked to the School of Public Policy and researched by four students from the school.

"[Professor] Robert Templer spoke about research the CCNR [Center for Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery] are conducting now in Syria, and pointed to an interest in exploring the connections between Aleppo and Norway, 'of which there are a surprising number'. Templer pointed to the five-year drought that preceded the civil war, which Templer linked directly to the country's current conflict; Syria was the first country in the world to withdraw seeds from the Seed Bank, located on Svalbard and otherwise known as 'The Doomsday Vault'.

The Aleppo Project has recently introduced another valuable study for anyone who is interested in finding out about what has happened in and to Aleppo in recent years. The Aleppo Conflict Timeline begins in 2012 when the armed conflict in Syria reached Aleppo. It goes on to document the evolution of armed groups and government forces, and their military tactics and strategies. It also analyzes the Geneva Peace Process and its implications on the ground.