Five decades of Baathism survived because of nationalism
MENASource
by
Rahaf Aldoughli
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma, wearing face masks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, during a visit to a state-sponsored fair in Damascus for small businesses from Aleppo, northern Syria. Damascus, Syria, on November 4, 2020. Photo by SalamPix/ABACAPRESS.COM
Despite the fallout of the decade-long civil war, one thing that has remained constant in Syria is the Baathist regime’s domination over the Syrian people. Titles like ‘‘Who Won the Syrian War?’’ may seem to some as presumptuous, yet, it reflects more significant issues: that the debates about the Syrian war focus on the conflict, Syrian regime allies and their military support, and how this activity is translating on the ground. Some neglected aspects of the Syrian war are the assumption that the aim is to win and the conflict in Syria has routinely been portrayed within this framework. While this picture contains important elements of truth, a closer look suggests that beyond the purely military functions of violence is an ideology that has been perpetuated by the Baathist regime for five decades: an emotional nationalism that hinders transition to democracy. It does so by propagating emotional attachments to the nation and the leader as a form of identity and belonging in the Syrian state construct.