Agnès Favier is a research fellow in the Middle East Directions Program of the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies. She has been an external collaborator at the European University Institute of Florence, Italy, since March 2016. Her main research interests are social and political transformations in Syria after the 2011 uprising, with a focus on the dynamics of local governance. Prior to that, her main research interest was Lebanese politics and included protests movements, local governance, and post-conflict management in Lebanon. Favier has significant experience as an independent consultant and as an analyst on the Middle East and North Africa for European organizations and governmental bodies. Diwan interviewed her in mid-April to discuss developments in Syria, as well as France’s role in negotiations over the country.