The Lawfare Podcast: Saria Samakie on Surviving Syria

Vanessa Sauter
Tuesday, December 12, 2017, 5:00 PM

Saria Samakie has a story unlike those of most of his peers at Georgetown. After being kidnapped three times in Syria, Samakie managed to flee the war-ravaged country and eventually arrived in the United States. Arne Duncan, a Brookings nonresident senior fellow and former secretary of education, recently interviewed Samakie to describe growing up in Syria, the harrowing experience of being a teenager under Assad’s regime, and what he envisions for his future—and his country’s.

Published by The Lawfare Institute
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Saria Samakie has a story unlike those of most of his peers at Georgetown. After being kidnapped three times in Syria, Samakie managed to flee the war-ravaged country and eventually arrived in the United States. Arne Duncan, a Brookings nonresident senior fellow and former secretary of education, recently interviewed Samakie to describe growing up in Syria, the harrowing experience of being a teenager under Assad’s regime, and what he envisions for his future—and his country’s.


Vanessa Sauter is a program associate in the Cybersecurity & Technology Program at the Aspen Institute. She was previously an associate editor at Lawfare and received her bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 2016.

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