Consolidating Gains in Northeast Syria: A Whole-of-Government Approach to Evaluating Civil Authority

Brau discusses the whole-of-government approach in evaluating civil authority. The creation of an assessment tool that provided common inputs for a whole-of-government evaluation was important to establishing the validity of the Raqqa Civil Council (RCC) as a governing body. In the end, had the RCC not proven itself capable of addressing the issues in front of it, failed to include elements of Arabs, Kurd, Christians, challenged the RCC for leadership. Challenges existed, and still exist today, with ethnic tensions, an uncertain future in the face of an uncertain peace agreement with the Syrian regime and Turkish interventions along the border, and remnants of IS and its supporters. Internally displaced persons and hundreds of thousands of refugees still need to return and be reintegrated in the region. The US will continue to be called on to support the civil councils as they work to bring stability and a return to normalcy in the region. Also, the US has stated it will not be involved in reconstruction in Syria until a final peace agreement is reached, making the role of the new civil councils more important as Syrians strive to make due with less while facing years or decades of rebuilding.