{"id":1877,"date":"2025-09-14T21:43:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T21:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/?p=1877"},"modified":"2025-09-14T21:43:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T21:43:55","slug":"centralization-vs-decentralization-syrian-scholars-debate-path-to-unity-and-stability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/?p=1877","title":{"rendered":"Centralization vs. Decentralization: Syrian Scholars Debate Path to Unity and Stability"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">On Sunday, July 31, the DeFacto Dialogue Platform, in partnership with eight other forums, organized an open seminar with Syrian Scholar Zaidoun Alzoubi on the theme: \u201cUnity and Social Stability Between Centralization and Decentralization.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Alzoubi delivered a comprehensive presentation on the concept of decentralization, providing clear explanations and global examples while addressing common misconceptions. His talk was structured around three key questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">What are decentralization and federalism? Where do they intersect and diverge?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Are they a trap for partition or a framework for power-sharing?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Is the balance between centralization and decentralization a myth, or a necessary method for all state sectors and services?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">The event featured diverse participation, with attendees contributing questions and comments both through Zoom and via live-stream discussions on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">The organizing platforms included: DeFacto Dialogue Platform, Future Forum, Omran Center for Strategic Studies, Masar Forum, Muwatana Forum, Democratic Civil Dialogue Forum, Watan Dialogue, Londnar Foundation, and the Arab Forum for Cultural Pluralism in Britain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Alzoubi, a Syrian writer and researcher, holds a PhD in Information Systems Management, and is a governance expert and adviser to several international organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Moderators Nurjan Sargaya and Ali al-Haj Hussein noted that the presentation would later be made available as a video, expanding access to Alzoubi\u2019s efforts to clarify the complex issue of decentralization in the Syrian context and to contribute to discussions on building a future Syrian state. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Correcting Misconceptions<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Early in the seminar, and throughout the Q&amp;A session, Alzoubi emphasized the importance of dispelling widespread misconceptions among Syrians that hinder constructive debate. Among his key points:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Decentralization is not a new concept in Syria. It has been on the table since the early days of the 2011 uprising, and became central to opposition and civil society debates by 2015.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Not every form of decentralization or federalism leads to secession, nor are they blanket solutions to all governance challenges.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">There is no single global model of decentralization: some unitary states apply more decentralization than certain federal ones.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Core functions such as the military, security forces, monetary policy, foreign trade, and citizenship remain under central authority in any decentralized system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">The essence of decentralization lies not in labels\u2014administrative, political, or financial\u2014but in empowering locally elected authorities with real powers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Authoritarian regimes, by nature, are anti-decentralization, concentrating all decision-making at the center.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Decentralization is not designed to protect specific ethnic or religious groups but to empower marginalized provinces and regions to make their own decisions, rather than being dictated to by the capital.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Progress requires dialogue, political parties, and shared governance\u2014waiting for a \u201cperfect authority\u201d is unrealistic.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Current Syrian debates on decentralization are heavily influenced by ideology, with positions framed as either \u201cfor\u201d or \u201cagainst.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Demonizing or delegitimizing other perspectives only obstructs dialogue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Contrary to some claims, the Autonomous Administration has not proposed ethnic decentralization or a two-region federal system in its talks with Damascus.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Arab regimes may lack democratic traditions, but democratization is a long process\u2014examples such as Switzerland show that strong democracies evolve over time, not overnight.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #800000;\"><strong>Lessons from Global Models<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Alzoubi reviewed international experiences, noting that levels of decentralization vary globally and cannot be judged by a country\u2019s formal system (unitary, federal, or otherwise). Instead, measurement relies on indices such as V-Dem, which evaluate local government elections, actual powers of local authorities, the degree to which officials are elected, and the quality of local governance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Terminology also varies: in Tunisia, local governments are called \u201cregions,\u201d in Turkey \u201cprovinces,\u201d and in Iraq \u201cgovernorates.\u201d Moreover, states may decentralize some sectors (like education) while keeping others (like healthcare) under central control.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">According to Alzoubi, Tunisia, a unitary state, achieved a decentralization index of over 92% after its 2014 constitution\u2014higher than federal states like Russia and Iraq.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Tunisia\u2019s Ennahda movement, often assumed to oppose decentralization, helped establish mechanisms to strengthen it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Small states are not inherently unsuitable for decentralization. Latvia, with only 2 million people, ranks second in Europe after Germany.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Federal Austria ranks 18<sup>th<\/sup> globally, while unitary France ranks 13<sup>th<\/sup>, showing that federalism does not necessarily equal greater decentralization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #800000;\"><strong>Comparing Iraq and Syria <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Turning to the region, Alzoubi critiqued Iraq\u2019s federal system, arguing that its rushed constitutional drafting and lack of proper design weakened the model. For example, Iraq retained a unicameral parliament, whereas federal systems usually require a bicameral legislature to balance national and regional interests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">He noted that Kurdish leaders in Iraq themselves advise Syrians not to replicate their system, as it failed to give them adequate representation in Baghdad. In Syria, he warned, copying the Iraqi model would encourage fragmentation rather than protect marginalized areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Given Syria\u2019s diversity\u2014Kurds and Druze live across multiple regions and cities\u2014decentralization should prioritize empowering all provinces, particularly historically marginalized ones such as Deir ez-Zor and Idlib, rather than focusing on ethnic arrangements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Dr. Alzoubi stressed that extreme centralization fosters extremism, while extreme decentralization fuels separatism. A balanced model is needed. Syria must transition from rigid centralization to participatory governance, where local communities have oversight over local authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">The current legal framework, including Law 107, offers no real local powers. Provincial councils are elected but lack authority, while sector directors are appointed and dismissed by Damascus, leaving no local accountability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Alzoubi noted that the Assad regime\u2019s centralized system marginalized all peripheries, including majority areas, turning wealthy provinces into \u201cunderdeveloped\u201d regions, while Damascus itself suffered from overcrowding, pollution, and unregulated expansion. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #800000;\"><strong>Reactions and Debate<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Participants welcomed the collaboration among forums and praised Alzoubi\u2019s objective presentation of facts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Ammar Kahf, from Omran Center, stressed that decentralization is not incompatible with national unity, but the concept has been demonized through divisive rhetoric. He cautioned, however, against seeing decentralization as a \u201cmagic solution,\u201d noting that administrative and governance reforms require time, institution-building, and trust.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Zozan Alloush, from DeFacto Platform, emphasized the need to revisit decentralization, a term often distorted in Syrian discourse. She highlighted the importance of tackling root causes and learning from global shortcomings, such as Tunisia\u2019s failure to decentralize finance and Iraq\u2019s lack of resource-sharing mechanisms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Mouwaffaq Zreiq, from Watan Dialogue, questioned whether Syria\u2019s current fragmented and externally dominated reality allows for serious decision-making on decentralization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">Other participants argued for a political system that genuinely represents all communities before determining a governance model. Some suggested that decentralization should include recognition of Kurdish national rights, while Alzoubi reiterated that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) does not demand ethnic federalism in its negotiations, and that ethnic-based systems would only lead to destruction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; color: #000000;\">He cautioned against postponing constitutional debate: \u201cIf we wait for the war to end, it will never end,\u201d he said, pointing to South Africa and Tunisia, which required years of debate despite not experiencing the scale of war and destruction seen in Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Sunday, July 31, the DeFacto Dialogue Platform, in partnership with eight other forums, organized an open seminar with Syrian Scholar Zaidoun Alzoubi on the theme: \u201cUnity and Social Stability Between Centralization and Decentralization.\u201d Alzoubi delivered a comprehensive presentation on the concept of decentralization, providing clear explanations and global examples while addressing common misconceptions. His [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[84],"class_list":["post-1877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-activities"],"authors":[{"term_id":84,"user_id":5,"is_guest":0,"slug":"admin9090","display_name":"admin9090","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0115cd93beece6d5f95fbe9b2d0973c523785793e08ffb9254f68083c0722130?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1879,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1877\/revisions\/1879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1877"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defacto-sy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fppma_author&post=1877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}