Non-resident Scholar Originally from Aleppo, Syria, Dr. Karam Shaar has lived for 12 years in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and New Zealand, spending four years in each. He is particularly interested in Syria’s political economy. His writings on the subject have been published in the Middle East Institute, The Aleppo Project, Carnegie Middle East Center, and the Atlantic Council. He has been quoted by Syria Direct, CNBC, PRI-BBC, Forethought and Al-Arabiya. Karam was active in his support for democratic reforms in the first year of the Syrian uprising (2011-12), but he later fled the country and continued his activism from abroad.