Strategic conflict analysis to strengthen strategies for democratic governance, resilience and civil resistance.
DATE: JANUARY 13, 2025
AUTHOR: Felipe Daza Sierra
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Professor in nonviolent civil resistance at Sciences Po Paris University.
Felipe Daza has worked for 20 years in the development of peace building, social transformation and civil resistance processes in North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. Email: felip.daza@sciencespo.fr
PROJECT COORDINATOR AND EDITOR: Carla Fibla García-Sala
RESEARCH ASSISTANCE: Iman Jumaa Abbas (traductora durante la investigación)
EDITING: Toni Sánchez Poy [ flaperval@yahoo.es ]
PROOF-READING: Nick Wells
COVER PICTURE: Mustafa Hassan, a Kurdish citizen from Hasaka, displays documents issued during the French Mandate indicating ownership of land that was taken from his
father by the Syrian regime. Photo by Felipe Daza.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was conducted at a time of great upheaval and urgency for Syria, which involved an enormous effort on the part of the entire coordination, research and logistics team to make its final publication possible. The author would like to express his sincere thanks to the key informants who volunteered their time and knowledge for this project, as well as to the organizations DOZ International and Un Ponte Per for their valuable advice and logistical and security support, which made it possible to develop the fieldwork in the
best possible conditions.
CITATION
Daza, Felipe. A New Agenda for Peace in Northeast Syria. Strategic analysis of the conflict to strengthen strategies for democratic governance, resilience and civil resistance. Novact, Barcelona, 2025.
LOCAL PARTNER: DOZ International
SUPPORTED BY: AEXCID Extremadura
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
With the fall of the Al Assad regime, the political transition towards the creation of a new Syria has begun. However, the Turkish invasion and the re-emergence of ISIS in Northern Syria threaten regional stability and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis experienced by the civilian population. Despite the regional challenges and political shortcomings of DAANES, the authorities have been able to deploy a system based on political decentralization, participatory governance and political power-sharing between the Arab and Kurdish communities in Northeast Syria (NES). The political project in NES, also in transition, could serve as a model for the new Syria and ensure the stability that the region needs after years of dictatorship.
This strategic analysis of the conflict in NES identifies the dynamics that have generated violence and social division in that region, as well as the pillars that promote peace, resilience and coexistence among ethnic, religious and ideological communities. All this in order to define an agenda for peace for NES that contributes to the political transition process initiated in Syria. These analyses and recommendations are based on the testimonies and data provided by more than 70 key informants interviewed during the field research conducted between late October and early November 2024.
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