Ukraine Implementation - Lessons Learned from Syria/Putin

When Russia invaded Ukraine again in February 2022, there was little doubt Putin would draw from the playbook he'd perfected over the preceding seven years in Syria. Despite US intelligence warnings about the invasion, it seemed to surprise many when it occurred. Within hours, concern grew about a siege of the capital, Kyiv, and embassies and aid organizations scrambled to move operations out of the capital. In contrast, those in EU and US capitals raced to expand support and deploy the full range of support to Ukraine. 

Emma was concerned by the lack of preparedness for siege and the siloed and disparate way that support appeared to be being rolled out to Ukraine and Ukrainians and wanted to ensure two things happened; civilian protection and siege preparedness were baked into the early response, and that the significant western policy response was coordinated across interventions from military to aid and diplomacy in a way that served Ukrainian civilians and prevented the same Russian diplomatic manipulations seen in Syria. Emma led an informal process that ensured these concerns were factored in at the heart of policy-making in Western capitals in the weeks immediately after the Russian invasion.

Having produced a large body of work in Syria around sieges as a journalist, analyst, and policy work for INGOs, governments, and the UN, she had a great deal of material to draw from. These learnings were distilled for public advocacy through a Twitter Thread. The thread was developed into a non-paper on 'Lessons Learned in Syria for an Integrated Response in Ukraine' to help inform a best practice disseminated among European, UK, and US officials. The paper was also circulated to Ukrainian city officials nationwide and civil society through an information cascade system. The paper was discussed at the European Development Ministers meeting in Brussels that weekend and in capitals. EIP republished a repurposed version to their stakeholders. The paper became a lightning rod for former Syrian hands. Emma and an EU diplomat organized a private roundtable to discuss the paper and share what they had learned from those who deployed integrated responses in Syria. The meeting was attended by officials from nearly a dozen western states, UN agencies and INGOs. An outcomes paper was later shared, and Emma went on to privately brief Western states in bilateral engagements. In 2024, this work was shared with HUMLOG to inform the development of best practices in siege preparedness and aid deployment during sieges. 

In 2022, it also informed strategic analysis for the European Leadership Network [Approach with caution: Lessons for Ukraine from the Russian approach to ceasefires and humanitarian access in Syria, March 2022] and Carnegie MEC [How the Lessons of the Syria War May Safeguard Lives in Ukraine, April 2022], which was picked up in global media such as CNN, Financial Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The National, France 24, and others. 

Concept notes and project development for an integrated civil protection framework in crisis response also emerged from this work stream. The framework is ready and able to be implemented rapidly in future crises and has since been developed to include the findings of other policy work.