As the conflict in Syria continues to intensify, attention is turning to the impact it is having upon Syria’s neighbours. Since it began in 2011, the conflict has forced over 1.3 million Syrians to flee as refugees to Syria’s surrounding neighbours. In this seminar, Mr Ziad Mikati, will share his personal views on the challenges that the Syrian conflict presents for Lebanon and the region.  As an advisor to the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, Mr Mikati is well placed to shed light on this increasingly complex situation. An outline of this discussion will be included in the next issue of the CAIS Bulletin.
Ziad Mikati is an advisor to the President of the Council of Ministers in Lebanon. Until recently he was a public policy analyst and the youth development coordinator for the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Mr Najib Mikati. He has played a leading role in the formation of Lebanese Government policy – including in relation to peace and religious issues. Mr Mikati has worked as a social policy researcher for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission in Beirut from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, he joined the United Nations Population Fund in New York as a policy analyst for the technical support division. In 2009, he launched the Acting4Change Group – an international youth initiative dedicated to developing peace and cultural dialogue among youth in the Arab States, the Balkans and Central Asia. He has a BA in Economics from the American University of Sharjah; an MA in International Affairs from the Lebanese American University; and a diploma in comparative religious literature from the University of London. Mr Mikati has published two books, and has participated in the drafting of seven UN publications.