Rebuilding Syria Begins with Culture 

Rebuilding Syria in the post-Assad era requires more than physical reconstruction. Syrian society faces profound challenges as the country moves through its transitional period and toward the hoped-for process of recovery. Reconstruction must begin with rebuilding the Syrian individual as a citizen in a country that aspires to make the rule of law the fundamental framework governing the exercise of authority, its relationship with society, and the interaction among institutions and Syria’s diverse social forces.

Culture has a pivotal role to play in this process of rebuilding. At the same time, it presents a major challenge both to the authorities and to the country’s diverse social forces, regardless of their affiliations or orientations. Today, this challenge is increasingly visible in the public sphere as an open struggle among competing cultural currents within Syrian society. Some seek to dominate public space at the expense of pluralism, openness, dialogue, and mutual recognition—values that, despite the darkness of the Assad era, have remained part of Syria’s social and cultural fabric over the past century.

Luxury or Necessity?

Reconstruction cannot be understood solely as a matter of housing, infrastructure, and rebuilding destroyed cities and towns. There is another essential dimension: the citizen. Rebuilding the human foundations of society is no less important than restoring education, healthcare, infrastructure, or any other vital sector.

Culture, therefore, has an active and influential role to play in the new Syria. This responsibility does not belong exclusively to the state and its institutions. It also rests with society and its civil forces, institutions, and organizations, as well as those who produce culture and can serve as a driving force for change and reconstruction: writers, artists, creators, and cultural workers. Constructive cooperation among these actors should help lead the process of transformation.

The importance of cultural work today lies precisely in its ability to operate beyond the sphere of political authority and without its interference. This independence is central to its capacity to influence society. Cultural work can help address the consequences of years of war and, particularly, their deep intangible effects on Syrian society, effects visible in severe social divisions, the erosion of dialogue, and the growing tendency toward violence in times of crisis.

Syria is one of the Arab countries distinguished by significant ethnic, religious, and sectarian diversity. Within the broader Arab cultural context of the region, this diversity should be regarded as an asset. Yet what had long been a source of cultural and social enrichment has suffered profound damage as a result of policies of forced conformity and discrimination pursued by the former regime in the service of authoritarian rule.

With the Syrian revolution, cultural differences became increasingly entrenched and eventually developed into deeper divisions. Addressing them today requires cultural strategies capable of rebuilding the public sphere around dialogue, shared interests, and a common identity, while reducing cultural tensions and conflicts that have become a serious source of concern for Syrians.

“Reconstruction cannot be confined to rebuilding cities and infrastructure. Rebuilding the human foundations of society is no less important.”

Abdulrahman Matar

Signs of Conflict

Syrian society was not inherently a breeding ground for division, violence, or extremism in the form witnessed during the years of the revolution and continuing into the present. Although these phenomena have intensified dramatically, the Assad authorities helped generate violence within society beginning in 1970 and contributed to creating the historical, social, and security conditions in which extremism could take root. By the end of the twentieth century, the regime had itself become an actor in this environment, serving at different times as a transit point and supporter of extremist forces.

Policies of repression and the denial of rights contributed to the retreat of moderation and tolerance, qualities that had long characterized Syrian society despite its diversity. During the years of the revolution, extremism expanded significantly and had a particularly damaging effect on cultural life, seeking to dismantle established values, ideas, and forms of cultural expression by restricting their visibility and circulation, sometimes to the point of outright prohibition.

The conflict between moderation and extremism, between lived reality and imposed conceptions of society, has become increasingly visible. Imported ideas and rigid interpretations continue to promote a culture of declaring what is permissible and what is forbidden according to the worldview of extremist forces seeking a role in post-Assad Syria. Based on their own understanding of that role, such forces attempt to dominate public space and impose particular forms of behavior and public appearance on Syrian society.

Exclusion is one of the clearest manifestations of this struggle, and one of the principal tools through which such groups seek to control and direct society.

Extremist ideas and groups have repeatedly manufactured divisions and waged battles against Syrian society, with the cultural and educational spheres among their most visible and troubling targets. This is particularly alarming because it affects Syria’s younger generations. Civil cultural institutions have likewise been targeted through attempts to obstruct their activities and ultimately diminish their presence and influence. This represents a genuine threat to Syrian society.

Signs of Recovery

The transitional period is burdened by enormous challenges, not least the country’s difficult economic circumstances. Under such conditions, cultural initiatives can easily be dismissed as secondary or even unnecessary. Yet extremist currents do not confine themselves within clear boundaries. They continue to provoke confrontation and crises in the public sphere, from interfering in the private affairs of individuals and communities to using cultural, and religious, as part of the broader social-cultural sphere, platforms in ways that deepen divisions and incite one group against another.

The current reality in Syria offers little indication that recovery is close at hand or that this cultural struggle will soon subside. On the contrary, it is likely to persist, with further rounds of cultural confrontation similar to those witnessed in recent days. Such forces will continue to challenge Syrian society wherever opportunities arise, particularly because the cultural sphere remains one of the country’s most vulnerable arenas.

Recovery requires changing this equation.

“Recovery requires changing the equation. The cultural sphere remains one of Syria’s most vulnerable arenas.”

Abdulrahman Matar

It is natural that people in Syria should believe they have the right to work and participate in the fields that concern them, whether political, religious, or cultural. This is, after all, one of the fruits of the Syrian struggle and revolution for freedom. Yet in the absence of a legal framework that safeguards the rights of all, meaningful recovery will remain difficult to achieve. Public and private freedoms continue to face threats, while social values are subjected to distortion without adequate safeguards against the spread of extremist culture.

The authorities bear part of the responsibility for confronting extremism, including attempts by groups aligned with them to monopolize public space and use public facilities to promote exclusionary discourse. Mosques, cultural centers, publishing houses, book fairs, and other public platforms should not become instruments for imposing certain activities while preventing others.

The survival and renewal of Syrian society ultimately depend on rebuilding the human being. Culture, in the fullest and broadest meaning of the word, must form a natural foundation of that process.