Fictionalizing Syria

By Ammar Almamoun

Ammar Almamoun is a Syrian journalist and activist who left Syria for Paris in 2015. He writes for a number of international Arab newspapers. Almamoun has a Master's in journalism and is working on a Master's in cultural studies at the Sorbonne.

It is now almost six years since the Syrian Revolution began, and to this day, the concept of an “ideal” end state remains vague and out of reach. Will Syria become a democracy or will it remain a dictatorship? Will the country remain technically united but suffer from conflict between warring militias, or will it divide into smaller, autonomous regions along ethno-sectarian lines?

These questions are being asked for two reasons. First, the modern state – the regime of Bashar al Assad – has failed. The Syrian people felt forsaken by this dictatorship and its claims of secular prosperity so they revolted against it. However, because Syrians do not have a historical precedent or memory of a state before French colonial occupation, there is no clear idea or system to shape what will happen after the war ends.

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