Ways to Recover the Trust Between the Local Populous and the Revolutionary and Opposition Forces

Introduction:

It is a given that any liberation movement would have the support of the populous, regardless of whether this movement was a revolution, popular protests, or even militaristic action; as that is considered one of the necessary conditions for a movement to succeed. Perhaps that is clearly shown in the Syrian revolution’s case, especially the recession of the popular will due to various reasons. Some of which are: the length of the duration, the scale of the blows the population suffered with regards to destruction, asylum seeking, and forced displacement. As well as the militaristic losses and the misadministration of the population’s main issues relating to its daily life such as humanitarian aid, security, and services etc.

Based on this hypothesis, in the first release of this series titled “Political Trust or the Local Populous: An Attempt at Explaining the Recession of Popular Support for the Revolution”, we discussed the concepts of political trust and local populous, the similarities and differences between them and the context of each. We also explored the criteria of measuring the population’s satisfaction with either concept.

The second release came with the title “The Factors that can Increase the Trust Between the Populous and Militaristic Movements: A Case Study of the Hamas and Taliban Movements”, which discussed through a comparative methodology, practical examples of relations between militaristic entities and the local populous. The paper discussed seven main factors that contributed to the trust of the local populous with these entities, and they are: providing a vision and societal identity, regional commitment, holding steadfast to the goals of the cause, turning militaristic gains into political ones, stability in the state of security, good administration, and finally being engrossed in an environment that prepares economic recovery.

This third and last release in this series comes to talk about the suitable ways and methods to regain popular support in the Syrian case, and the role of existing political, militaristic and service institutions and bodies in achieving that. As the main issue remains to be: what are the actions required from all concerned individuals in all political, militaristic and service specialisations to regain the trust of the local populous?

This report’s importance comes from the fact that it focuses on the main political steps through which the trust of the local populous can be gained, which improves the performance of revolutionary and opposition forces on one side, and increases their legitimacy on the other.

Report’s Methodology:

The report relied on the descriptive analytical method, which takes a look at the various dimensions of the phenomenon which helps produce results and recommendations that can contribute to its goal of “increasing the local populous’ trust in revolutionary forces despite their specialisation”. This release is considered complementary to the other two, as it displays the results and recommendations that should be worked on.

The report relies completely on primary sources extracted from a bundle of interviews the team conducted between Kanun Al-Awal/December 2020 and Nisan/April 2021 with several experts and Syrian personalities in various specialities, numbering 19 in total. The individuals interviewed were chosen according to the following criteria:

• Individuals with close ties to the local populous and can explain its point of view.
• Individuals active in the political space
• Individuals active in the militaristic scene
• Individuals active in the services sector

The report is divided into 3 main parts; the first containing recommendations to those concerned with the political aspect, the second for those in the militaristic field, and finally the third for those in the services industry or concerned with it.

Read the full report (Arabic)