Syrian Intellectuals’ Priorities in the Post-Assad Era: Rebuilding Trust as a Pathway to Effectiveness
Executive Summary:
With the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, the Syrian public sphere opened in an unprecedented way, creating a rare opportunity for intellectuals to restore their relationship with society through discourse that engages with daily realities and rebuilds the long-eroded bridges of trust. Intellectuals have historically played a pivotal role in transitional phases, particularly in countries with fragile civil institutions and waning public confidence in state structures, a situation that clearly characterized Syria at that juncture.
After years of marginalization by the former regime, and the rise of sectarian rhetoric that weakened their societal influence, many independent intellectuals came to be perceived by the public as “detached from reality” or as pursuing personal gains rather than the common good. According to the report, rebuilding this trust requires meaningful engagement with society, grounding credibility in attentiveness to popular ideas and visions, and integrating people’s daily struggles and grievances into intellectual discourse.
In this context, the report identifies four key priorities for intellectuals: establishing genuine channels of communication with the public; linking ambitious visions to social realities; upholding essential transitional guarantees—such as rejecting repression and safeguarding the openness of the public sphere; and building inclusive forums and civic platforms as representative spaces for networks of intellectuals and civil actors.
Conversely, the report warns of four potential risks: the emergence of a “revolution of frustrated hopes,” the absence of genuine “transitional reform,” divisions over transitional priorities, and the exploitation of internal fragmentation by external actors.
The report concludes that managing the transitional phase is a shared responsibility between political authorities and intellectuals. It emphasizes that intellectuals’ ability to network and organize institutionally positions them as a powerful counterweight to potential renewed authoritarianism. Failure to fulfill this role in a timely and credible manner, however, risks reinforcing preexisting public perceptions of intellectuals as opportunistic and detached from reality, paving the way for the return of authoritarian rule, not due to the nature of power itself, but because of intellectuals’ own shortcomings.
To read full report click here (Arabic)
مدير وحدة التوافق والهوية المشتركة في مركز الحوار السوري، يحمل شهادة الدكتوراه في القانون العام من جامعة حلب، وحائز على اعتمادية المعهد العالي للحقوق في الشرق الأوسط، وعمل سابقاً مدرساً في كلية الحقوق في جامعة حلب الحرة. يركز في أبحاثه الحالية على دراسة ديناميكيات العلاقة بين المجتمع السوري والنصوص القانونية والدستورية منها على وجه التحديد.
