Media

As the Syrian civil war eclipses its sixth anniversary in March 2017, the plight of Syrian civilians who have been forced to flee their home country over the past six years continues to worsen. The debate around how to most effectively confront the Syrian refugee crisis revolves around an essential question of international security: must countries choose between humanitarianism and security, or are the two inextricably linked so that investing in one promotes the other, while ignoring one deteriorates both? In this report, we argue that in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, humanitarianism and security are mutually reinforcing aspirations, and we call for government policies and responses to the crisis that recognize the complementarity of these two issues.