Randa Kassis () is a Franco-Syrian politician. During the Syrian civil war, she was until 2012 a member of the
Syrian National Council
The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...
. Kassis' husband,
Fabien Baussart
Fabien Baussart () is the founder and president of the 2006 established think tank Center of Political and Foreign Affairs (CPFA), which organizes events and discussions on various geopolitical topics around the world with prominent political fi ...
, is the founder of the think tank
Center of Political and Foreign Affairs
The Center of Political and Foreign Affairs (Abbreviation, abb: CPFA) is a think tank focused on government policies and geopolitics, organizes events and discussions on various geopolitical topics around the world
CPFA has organized numerous e ...
which has strong ties to Russia. He is known in France for his close Kremlin and Russian business connections Kassis chaired peace talks in
Astana
Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...
, Kazakhstan.
Biography
Kassis is an anthropologist and a former commentator on cultural, political, and societal topics. During her time in France, she appeared on French television and radio channels, including France Télévisions, France 2 and France 5 (''C dans l’air''), France 24, RFI, and France Culture."Les partis d'opposition laïcs syriens unissent leurs forces à Paris"
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...
, 18 September 2011."Répression en Syrie: Al Assad seul contre tous ?" , France 24, 11 January 2012.
Kassis was a member of the
Syrian National Council
The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...
until August 2012. In 2011, she became the chairwoman of the Coalition of Secular and Democratic Syrians, a Paris-based group formed by the union of
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
,
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
,
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
and
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish language
** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)
**Central Kurdish (Sorani)
**Southern Kurdish
** Laki Kurdish
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern ...
parties who called on minorities in Syria to support the fight against
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
's government.
Following her expulsion from SNC (Syrian National Council) and the Coalition of Secular and Democratic Syrians due to her warnings about the growing influence of Islamist groups in Syria,Kassis founded another group, the Movement of Pluralistic Society.
In 2015, Kassis initiated the Astana Platform to establish a platform that could assemble moderate Syrian opponents. Kassis initiative were viewed as a constructive effort to facilitate dialogue, others expressed criticism, citing concerns over her perceived close ties with Russia. Later on 30 January 2018, Kassis, and other members of the Astana platform, participated as a member of the presidential committee in the Syrian National Congress. She emphasized the importance of creating a constitutional committee to facilitate the peace process in Syria.
Kassis has expressed support for the
Russian intervention in Syria
{{Infobox military conflict
, partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the war against the Islamic State
, image =
, image_size =
, border ...
. She met with
Donald Trump Jr.
Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977), often nicknamed Don Jr., is an American businessman and political activist. He is the eldest child of U.S. president Donald Trump and his first wife Ivana.
Trump serves as a trustee and exec ...
in Paris in 2016. The meeting was later mentioned by the House Intelligence Committee as part of their examination of contacts between Donald Trump's associates and individuals linked to Russian interests. Kassis who is a close friend of
Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...
. attended an event at the hotel Ritz Paris on 11 October 2016, few days before the US elections, where
Donald Trump Jr.
Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977), often nicknamed Don Jr., is an American businessman and political activist. He is the eldest child of U.S. president Donald Trump and his first wife Ivana.
Trump serves as a trustee and exec ...
, delivered a speech for the CPFA in the Louis XV Salon, later, she allegedly traveled to Moscow, claiming she could act as a secret communication channel between the Trump administration and Vladimir Putin on Syria’s political process
Kassis participated in the 2016 Geneva Peace Talks as part of the Moscow/Astana group. She served as co-president, alongside
Qadri Jamil
Qadri Jamil () is a Syrian politician, media editor and economist. He is one of the top leaders of the People's Will Party and the Popular Front for Change and Liberation,Russian intervention in the civil war drew criticism from some members of the Syrian opposition.
In 2017, Kassis invited members of the Syrian opposition, academics and constitutional experts - with the assistance of French constitutionalist Xavier Latour, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Yasar Yakis and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy
Giulio Terzi
Giuliomaria Terzi di Sant'Agata (; born 9 June 1946) is an Italian diplomat and politician. He was Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mario Monti's government from November 2011 until March 2013, Permanent Representative of Italy to the Uni ...
, to begin drafting a new constitution for Syria.
In October 2018, Kassis worked to include various political factions of the opposition to develop a roadmap for peace. The document was drafted by opposition representatives invited to Rome by Sant'Egidio, an organization close to the Vatican.
In January 2025, Kassis returned to Damascus where she met with the Patriarch
John X
Pope John X (; died 28 May 928) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 914 to his death. A candidate of the counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli, and was inst ...
and Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijiri, the spiritual leader of the Druze community, to discuss Syria’s future. She expressed her opposition to
Ahmed al-Sharaa
Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...
and the new Syrian authorities, which she described as a "radical regime" that may lead to another dictatorship and a new civil war.
Personal
Kassis is married to French businessman
Fabien Baussart
Fabien Baussart () is the founder and president of the 2006 established think tank Center of Political and Foreign Affairs (CPFA), which organizes events and discussions on various geopolitical topics around the world with prominent political fi ...
.
Bibliography
*''Crypts of the Gods'', Randa Kassis, Editions E- Kutub, 2013 (EN)
*''Le Chaos Syrien'', printemps arabes et minorités face à l'islamisme, Randa Kassis and Alexandre del Valle, Editions Dhow, 2014 (FR)
*''Comprendre le chaos syrien, des révolutions arabes au jihad mondial'', L'Artilleur, coll. Toucan essais, 2016 (FR)
*''La Syrie et le Retour de la Russie,'' Editions des Syrtes, 2018 (FR)
Secularism in Syria
A process of secularization in Syria occurred under the French mandate in the 1920s. Syria has been governed by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party from 8 March 1963 up until 8 December 2024. The Ba'athist regime combined Arab socialism with element ...