📰 Decentralisation Back in the Spotlight: Reading the Statements of Envoy Tom Barak

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Syria has entered a period of profound political transformation. Among the issues that have resurfaced at the heart of national debate is decentralisation, which has once again become a focal point of competing visions for the country’s future governance. In this context, remarks by U. S. Additionally, special Envoy Tom Barak during his participation in the Doha Forum drew particular attention.

Barak stated that “decentralisation has not succeeded in the Middle East and will not succeed in Syria,” a comment widely interpreted as signalling a U. Indeed, s. Notably, preference for strong central authority as a means of achieving rapid stability and avoiding a repeat of the Iraqi experience. Analysts argue that this position reflects the broader approach of leader Donald Trump’s second administration, while also aligning with Turkish interests that firmly oppose any form of political autonomy for minorities. International relations researcher Firas Alawi offered a more nuanced reading of Barak’s remarks, arguing that they were primarily directed at political decentralisation in the sense of federalism.

He warned that such a model could open the door to Syria’s fragmentation, particularly given the fragility of the transitional phase and the country’s complex demographic composition. Speaking to Ultra Syria, Alawi explained that administrative decentralisation, which already exists in limited form, could contribute to preserving Syria’s territorial unity. By contrast, he described political decentralisation as historically and economically unviable in a country marked by deep population intermixing and integrated resource networks. He added that the absence of a strong central authority during the current transition heightens the risk of internal crisis, pointing to Iraq’s failure to manage relations between the centre and the peripheries as a cautionary example. Nevertheless, Alawi acknowledged that a narrowly defined form of political decentralisation might be conceivable, but only under the supervision of a central administration that retains exclusive control over sovereign files, including the armed forces, foreign policy, and macroeconomic decision-making.

Writer and researcher Dr Basel Marawi similarly argued that decentralisation is not a prerequisite for state success, noting that numerous stable and prosperous countries rely on highly centralised systems. He stressed that any decentralisation framework must be grounded first and foremost in recognition of the state’s unity, sovereignty, and monopoly over sovereign powers—conditions that, in his view, are currently absent amid the proliferation of de facto authorities lacking electoral legitimacy or national consensus. In remarks to Ultra Syria, Marawi emphasised that…