Meet Asaad Hanna

Asaad Hanna is a student at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and is from Homs, Syria. We checked in with him to learn more about his studies and goals for the future.

What are you studying?

I am doing my master's degree in international affairs, international security policy.

Where are you currently living?

I am living in New York City.

What are your goals for the future?

I hope in the future I can use the knowledge I am getting from Columbia University, combined with my field experience, to do better work for the world, to use it in making the policies more realistic and applicable in a way to save more lives in the world and develop the humanitarian conditions for the refugees/displaced people in anyplace around the world.

What do you wish more people knew about Syria?

To know the real story, to know what is really going on in Syria, to know why do we have 10 million people out of the country and 1 million people in tents displaced from their homes. To know the original story of the 10-year Syrian freedom battle.