Within the cultural fabric of Syria and the wider Levant, a highly eloquent proverb condenses a profound political and social theory: "The stairs are washed from the top down." This report aims to deconstruct this dilemma through an in-depth analysis of the proverb's logic, a critical review of different theoretical models of state reform, and an examination of these models in light of concrete historical experiences.
On 8 December 2024, the Assad family regime collapsed in Syria. This report presents a central hypothesis: the collapse does not merely create a power vacuum but resurrects suppressed social structures and primary identities, tribal, sectarian, and regional, that were kept dormant under an iron security grip but never truly disappeared.
Thankfully, the immediate threat of the recent wildfires has subsided. Now, as the smoke clears, the true challenges facing our nation are laid bare. The government's responsibilities must shift from immediate crisis management to the complex, long-term task of recovery and building resilience.
Executive Summary Syria faces a devastating “polycrisis.” The growing impacts of climate change are deeply connected to years of poor governance, a brutal conflict lasting over a decade, and a severe economic collapse. This report argues these are not separate problems. Instead, they are part of a single, widespread failure. Environmental damage has both driven
Syria's building codes, including the Syrian Arab Code for seismic design, are dated and, far more fatally, unenforced, and the 2023 earthquakes showed what that gap costs. A comparison with Jordan, Israel, the UAE, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Italy and the UK shows the fix is institutional: an independent code authority, regular updates and real enforcement, not better paper.
Syrian public life has been compressed into forced binaries: with the government or against it, loyalist or traitor, believer or infidel. This essay argues for the position the binary cannot process, supporting the state where it serves the nation and condemning its documented abuses. Holding the government accountable is not betrayal; it is citizenship.
Executive Summary The new government in post-Assad Syria faces a crucial moment. Instead of acting like a mature government, a worrying pattern has appeared. Their approach to rule is reactive, almost childish, like a brutal militia rather than a proper state. This “eye for an eye” thinking, marked by quick reactions and using force, is
The Assad state carried “ghost employees” for decades, and dismantling that payroll is a genuine and urgent reform. It is also a decision about who eats next month, taken by a government with little fiscal room and no reliable count of the people it is about to release. This argues for sequencing the social safety net ahead of the layoffs, and treats the missing data as the central problem rather than a footnote.
Brené Brown calls the habit of ranking pain comparative suffering: the belief that empathy is scarce and must be rationed. In Syria that private habit has scaled into a public mechanism, a hierarchy of suffering in which communities compete for aid, attention and recognition. Dismantling it is a precondition for healing and reconciliation.