Rana Khalaf is a research fellow with the Centre for Syrian Studies at the University of Saint Andrews. Her current research focuses on conflict, governance, civil-society, activism, youth, social protection, and neoliberal peace; it geographically concentrates on the non-government controlled parts of Syria. Her papers ‘Governance without Government in Syria: Civil-Society and State-Building during Conflict’ and ‘Activism in Difficult Times – Civil Society in Syria (2011-2014)’ cut new grounds in academia. They tackle local dynamics during the conflict itself. These remain rather unknown and misunderstood. For more information, visit her LinkedIn profile.