Khalifa spent his childhood in the northern Syrian metropolis Aleppo, where he began to participate in political activities as a teenager.
"[6] Arab publishers were initially wary of printing the novel, in which the main character, like the author, is imprisoned for thirteen years during Hafez al-Assad’s regime.
[13] In the study, Khalifa argues that the partition of Syria along sectarian boundaries would lead to disaster, because it would fail to restore peace and would also be a danger for the stability of neighboring countries.
Khalifa mapped the ethnic and sectarian composition of Syrian society, and also discussed Syria's economy, trying to determine when and how fragmentation might occur.
Although he was banned from travelling outside Syria, in 2006 Khalifa managed to emigrate first to the United Arab Emirates, and moved to France in 2011, where he has been living since.