In this excellent issue from Syria in Transition, Malek al-Abdeh and Lars Hauch argue that Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, has made three main mistakes:
• Failure with the Constitutional Committee: Pedersen did not halt the process when regime representatives acted in bad faith leading to a loss of momentum and control, especially after relying on Russia for facilitation.
• Ineffectiveness of the step-for-step process: His approach of trading Western concessions for minor regime changes failed due to Assad’s non-engagement and over-reliance on Russian support.
• Missed humanitarian opportunities: Pedersen did not engage sufficiently with humanitarian efforts, notably during the 2023 earthquake response and early recovery, losing potential leverage to assert political leadership.