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Between the Politics of Life and the Geopolitics of Death: Syria 1963-2024 (Part 13)

[The question about Syria is about looking for a pure revolution á la ‘Marxist-Leninist’ or the ‘liberal-democratic’ criteria or it is not a revolution. Nor is it just about the reactionary forces that have destroyed the revolutionary experiment and potentials and they have know claimed its ‘flag’. It is the character and content of the process and what the actors involved envisaged. The early content and character cannot be seen neither in the outlook of those who toppled the regime in December 2024 nor in the one of the regional and international actors that are trying to influence the current outcome and the future of Syria. ] “Syrian revolutionaries like those in Manbij did not speak the dominant academic Western language about social processes and revolutions—either because they could not or were unwilling to. As a result, many journalists and academics have effectively denied them any form of agency. Many Western descriptions present them as mindless fighters who are easily manip...

The Kurdish Struggle is Central to Syria’s Future

“Following the fall of the Assad regime, Turkey has become the most important regional actor in the country. By providing support for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ankara’s been consolidating its power over Syria. Turkey’s main objective, other than carrying out forced returns of Syrian refugees and benefiting from future economic opportunities during the reconstruction phase, is to deny Kurdish aspirations for autonomy, and more specifically undermine the AANES [ the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of the North East of Syria] . This would set a precedent for Kurdish self-determination in Turkey… While HTS hasn’t participated in any military confrontations against the SDF in recent weeks, the organisation hasn’t vocalised opposition to the Turkey-led attacks, quite the opposite… In the past, HTS repeatedly supported Turkish offensives against the SDF. It is unlikely that HTS is willing to support the demands of the SDF and AANES, particularly concerning Kurdish national rights. Aft...

Between the Politics of Life and the Geopolitics of Death: Syria 1963-2024 (Part 10)

[T]he rejection of state-centric nationalism, while desirable, could leave a discursive space that sectarian or despotic groups could occupy. This explains why supra-nationalist and infra-nationalist groups with Islamic, tribal, and ethnic identities dominate the scene. Due to these competing identities, which are functioning at the local and trans-local levels, popular nationalism is facing a major challenge as it attempts to counter state nationalism. Popular nationalism could be overtaken by other competing ideologies. Most opposition leaders are detached from people’s everyday realities. They are mostly busy producing centralized and exclusive narratives that are in many ways a replica of the regime’s ideology.] Noticeable from the start though, in the early period of popular nationalism women were mostly invisible in street activities although a few took part in the beginning of the revolution. During the toppling of the Assad regime by the leading force of HTS, women were hardly ...