Publications
Here we share all our published work, including peer-reviewed academic papers, policy papers, and op-eds.
UN Humanitarian Operations in Syria 2021-2022: Challenges and Policy Solutions
Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, Karam Shaar, Mohamad Orwani, Noha Alkamcha, and Dima Muhammad (22 May 2024)
This report assesses aid diversion in Syria over 2021 and 2022. It utilises procurement data and a dataset leaked to OPEN, highlighting some of the UN’s partnerships with local NGOs in regime-held Syria. The research unveils new grave concerns over the UN’s funding of potential human rights violators and the diversion of aid to the Assad regime and proposed policy solutions.
To view the policy brief, click here.
To view the full report, click here.
To view the top 100 suppliers alongside their risk levels and backgrounds using an interactive dashboard, click here.
Der Spiegel (Investigation), Karam Shaar, Christoph Reuter, Syria Sanctions Policy Program (Sep 9, 2023)
This is Der Spiegel’s coverage of the debut project from the Syria Sanctions Policy Program.
The Arab League had hoped that welcoming Syria back into its ranks might slow down the flow of drugs coming out of the country.
But as the case of business executive Mahmoud Aldij shows, Assad’s mafia-like structures remain deeply entrenched.
Observatory of Political and Economic Networks and Omran for Strategic Studies (Special Report), Karam Shaar, Mohamad Orwani, Traci Lawrence, Baraa Khurfan, Muhsen Al-Mustafa, and Wael Al-Alwani (Sep 8, 2023)
This is the debut project from the Syria Sanctions Policy Program (SSPP). A new travel agency with offices in Damascus and Dubai recently announced direct flights from Damascus to European cities for the first time in over a decade. Our research reveals that the agency and its Greece-based “exclusive” partner airline are associated with drug kingpin Mahmoud Abdulilah al-Dj, who has been sentenced to death in Libya for drug trafficking. Al-Dj is also the exclusive agent of US-sanctioned Cham Wings in Libya, which has been accused of money-laundering throughout the Levant and transporting weapons and equipment for the Assad regime. We’re concerned that the Greek airline, Air Mediterranean, could wittingly or unwittingly be doing the same. The report highlights the need for enhanced monitoring of the activities of drug kingpins and the affiliates of the Assad regime. Among other recommendations, we call on the European Union (EU) to consider blocking Air Mediterranean from operating in EU airports.
Atlantic Council, Karam Shaar(Op-ed) (Aug 24, 2023)
The security, health, and geopolitical impacts of captagon’s proliferation in the Middle East have jolted many countries around the world into action. Both consumer and transit countries in the region are enhancing their interdiction capacities and considering the normalization of relations with the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, which controls areas where most captagon originates. The Biden administration has announced an interagency counter-captagon strategy and has imposed joint sanctions with the United Kingdom and European Union on Syrian and Lebanese actors involved in the industry. Additionally, Captagon has been included in the US-led Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats. In this piece, Dr Karam Shaar argues that these responses are myopic, partial, and occasionally misguided. Instead, he advocates for comprehensive, long-term, and smart policies.
Observatory of Political and Economic Networks (Research Paper), Karam Shaar, Wael Alalwani, Mohammad Orwani and Dima Mohammad (Jun 14, 2023)
This report presents the most comprehensive attempt to date at understanding the breadth and nature of the ongoing narcotics crisis in the Middle East, by analyzing two bespoke databases: one compiling and classifying the 1,251 publicly reported drug seizures in Arab Asian countries between 2016 and 2022, and another mapping 712 individuals and entities involved in narcotics supply from Syria and Lebanon using primary and secondary sources. The report also estimates the profits generated by the industry and their political economy implications.
