Robin Yassin-Kassab: Syria After Assad

In December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed after more than five decades in power, bringing an end to one of the Middle East’s most entrenched and brutal dictatorships. The speed of its fall stunned the world. Yet for many Syrians, this moment was the culmination of years of protest, resistance, sacrifice and unimaginable loss.
Writer, journalist and commentator Robin Yassin-Kassab has spent more than a decade documenting the Syrian revolution and its aftermath. In The Blood Between Us, he returns to Syria following the regime’s collapse, travelling across the country to meet the people now attempting to rebuild their lives, communities and future.
What freedoms become possible after decades of repression? How can justice be achieved after years of violence? Yassin-Kassab explores the hopes, challenges and competing visions emerging in post-Assad Syria. Essential for those seeking to understand one of the defining political stories of our time.
This event will be chaired by James Harkin, director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism and an acclaimed journalist and author specialising in political conflict, social change and the forces shaping our world. Having reported extensively on the Syrian conflict from multiple perspectives, he brings rare first-hand insight into the country’s complex history and the human stories behind the headlines. His book Hunting Season investigates the rise of Islamic State and its kidnapping of journalists. A former Oxford politics lecturer and Harvard fellow, James has written for Vanity Fair, Harper’s, Prospect and The Guardian, and worked with filmmaker Adam Curtis on two acclaimed BBC documentary series.
Folkestone Book Festival is our annual celebration of stories, ideas and conversation by the sea. Curated by novelist Sophie Haydock (The Flames, Madame Matisse), this year’s festival brings together more than 60 events across two weeks, welcoming world-class writers, thinkers and storytellers to Folkestone.
Discover another event, browse the bookshop, explore Folkestone’s vibrant arts scene, independent cafés, bars and galleries, and share the experience with a friend. The best festivals are as much about the conversations between events as those on stage.
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Folkestone Book Festival is proudly supported by Eurotunnel, Canterbury Christ Church University, Holiday Extras, and the Friends of Folkestone Book Festival. Creative Folkestone is supported by Arts Council England, Folkestone & Hythe District Council and Saga. Founding Funder The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust.