The current crisis in Syria started with the protests in mid-March 2011 calling for the release of political prisoners. As Syrian president Bashar al-Assad refused to implement the demanded reforms, the protests escalated, evolving by August 2011 into a military confrontation that involved major international and regional political players.

The conflict has caused enormous suffering of the civilian population and resulted in one of the largest forced migrations since World War Two.

In a roundtable Thursday in room 203, Toldo Health Education Centre, scholars will discuss the implications of the Syrian crisis, paying particular attention to its international, political, socioeconomic and humanitarian dimensions:

• Tom Najem, “The Origins of the Syrian Crisis”
• Elena Maltseva, “The Syrian Crisis: Where Key Countries Stand”
• Roozbeh Hatami, “Iran and the Syrian Crisis: Balance of Power and Regional Competition”
• Anna Lanoszka, “The Syrian Conflict: An Economic Perspective”
• Jamey Essex, “Global NGOs and the Humanitarian Response to the Syrian Crisis”

Organized by the Department of Political Science, “Syria, the Crisis and its Implications,” will begin at 7 p.m.