Dialogue with Syria: Opportunity or Ambush?

Ammar Abdulhamid, Saban Center Nonresident Fellow, Director, The Tharwa Foundation and a Syrian dissident, debated Joshua Landis, Assistant Professor, School of International and Area Studies, Co-Director of the Center for Peace Studies, University of Oklahoma, about U.S. policy towards Syria. Abdulhamid argued that signals from Syrian President Bashar al-Asad are in essence a diversionary tactic. Landis, disagreeing, urged the United States to engage with Syria and assist Syria in the recover if the Golan Heights from Israel., Saban Center Director, Martin S. Indyk, chaired the luncheon.