National Reconciliation: The Indispensable Path to Saving Syria

Anyone who fails to notice the deepening rift among Syrians is simply closing their eyes to reality. The central issue today is not how many additional tanks we deploy, nor which triumphant slogan we repeat; it is how to craft genuine formulas for national reconciliation within the framework of the state.

The very structure of that state is now up for debate: What model do we want? How do we build an army that belongs to all Syrians rather than to a single sect or party? Such questions cannot be answered by force. In my view, any strategy built on “military settlement” is a guaranteed recipe for partition. Violence feeds a self-perpetuating cycle: multiple factions keep fighting while each bets on an external patron—some look to Israel, others to Russia, Iran, or the United States.

Today’s security breakdown is rooted in a flawed loyalty system inside the security services; the more extreme the rhetoric, the higher an officer’s “loyalty score” and prospects for promotion. That is profoundly dangerous. I therefore call—without reservation—for the reinstatement of universal conscription. In every nation, the army is the crucible in which young people are educated and culturally refined—provided it is not a politicized replica of the Assad-era force. We need an army that blends all Syrians into a unified concept of citizenship under a state that remains neutral in sectarian disputes.

Re-forging and melting the bonds of national unity will require enormous effort, but there is no alternative. Syria cannot recover through divisive slogans that demonize the “other,” nor through perpetual rule of the tank, nor by clinging to foreign guardians whose interests change with the international winds. What we need is a genuine negotiation—not a token “dialogue”--among Syria’s political and social components to redefine both state and army and replace narrow loyalties with loyalty to the nation alone.

Absent that, every casualty report will remain just another statistic added to an endless tally, while the same vicious circle persists: violence breeds division, division invites more violence. The exit ramp is well-known: real national reconciliation, a truly national army, and a state that stands above sectarian fault lines—no longer a broker between foreign powers and its own citizens.