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U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre

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Blog post | Mar 2026

Syria’s delicate balance: Performative reform vs. systemic change

Robert Forster, David Jackson (2026)
(U4 Blog)
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https://www.u4.no/blog/syria-s-delicate-balance-performative-reform-vs-systemic-change

While petty corruption and bribery are decreasing under Syria’s transitional administration, its commitment to deeper structural reforms is uncertain.

Read more:
https://www.u4.no/blog/syria-s-delicate-balance-performative-reform-vs-systemic-change

Robert Forster

Senior Adviser (U4)
  • robert.forster@cmi.no

David Jackson

Principal Adviser (U4)
  • david.jackson@cmi.no

U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre

Feb 2002 - Dec 2026
  • Corruption
  • Conflict
  • Syria
  • MENA - Middle East and North Africa
  • Corruption
  • Anti-corruption
  • Accountability
  • Citizen engagement
  • Civil society
  • Decentralisation
  • Economic development
  • Fragile states
  • Public sector reform
  • Security sector
  • Transparency

Also from this project:

Blog post | Oct 2026

Political finance in India: Closing the gaps, and aligning with UNCAC Resolution 11/7

Shivani Kapoor, Shelly Mahajan

U4 Practitioner Experience Note | Sep 2026

Operationalising the UNODC Statistical Framework to Measure Corruption. Interview series on corruption measurement initiatives at the national level

Sofie Arjon Schütte, Byron Villacis Cruz, Faryal Ahmed, Salomé Flores

See also:

U4 Issue | Feb 2026

Anti-corruption efforts in Syria: Security sector reform and economic governance

Abdullah al-Jabassini, Joseph Daher, David Jackson, Robert Forster (series editors)

U4 Issue | Feb 2026

Anti-corruption efforts in Syria: Security sector reform and economic governance

Abdullah al-Jabassini, Joseph Daher

Book Chapter | 2024

Syrian Self-settlement in Lebanon’s ‘Arrival Cities’: Refugee Livelihoods in Tripoli, Beirut, and Tyre

Robert Forster, Are J. Knudsen

Urban Displacement: Syria's Refugees in the Middle East

Book Chapter | 2024

At the Intersection of Economic and Family Networks: Female Syrian Refugees from Homs in Mafraq, Jordan

Sarah Ann Tobin

Urban Displacement: Syria's Refugees in the Middle East

Blog post | Sep 2026

European audiences do not need an overly positive story about anti-corruption in Ukraine. They just need a balanced one

David Jackson

Blog post | Sep 2026

Four scenarios for Ukraine’s anti-corruption future

David Jackson

Blog post | Sep 2026

Rethinking the politics of anti-corruption in Ukraine – from sandwich to kite

David Jackson

U4 Issue | Aug 2026

Understanding corruption risks in devolved climate finance: Implementation vulnerabilities in the 'Financing Locally-Led Climate Action' Programme in Kenya

Achiba Gargule (author), Saul Mullard, Robert Forster (series editors)

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