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Kassioun Editorial 1285: What Is Needed: Emergency Solutions!
“After the fall of the former regime, the level of satisfaction with the new situation was higher than the level of dissatisfaction and concern regarding the country’s economic and social conditions. However, one year after the regime’s fall, dissatisfaction with the domestic situation began to increase. The real danger will arise when the level of dissatisfaction exceeds the level of satisfaction over the fall of the previous regime. The degree of public dissatisfaction with living conditions is steadily rising. While this dissatisfaction reflects a certain level of resentment, that resentment has now reached a level of social mobilization”.
The above passage appeared in the political report presented to the second meeting, post conference, of the Central Council of the People’s Will Party on 11 April 2026. Today, three months later, it can be said that public dissatisfaction has intensified even further, coming within striking distance of crossing the threshold into tangible action, amid mounting external pressures and an increasingly dangerous and fragile regional environment.
Among the most fundamental factors defining Syria’s current situation are the following:
First: Socioeconomic conditions remain extremely poor and difficult, and continue to deteriorate, with more than 90% of Syrians living below the poverty line and being driven into even deeper poverty and marginalization.
Second: This deterioration is reinforced by the adopted economic policies, which are neoliberal in essence and aligned with the recommendations of the IMF and the World Bank. These include lifting subsidies, dismantling what remains of the state sector, eroding the state’s remaining social role, while large-scale corruption and an unjust system of wealth distribution continue unabated.
Third: As has become clear, waiting for “salvation” through foreign investment—particularly from the Gulf countries—is an illusion and a futile pursuit.
Fourth: American and “Israeli” pressure aimed at drawing Syria into a civil war in Lebanon reverberates back into Syria itself and affects the wider region. It revives destructive sectarian and ethnic fault lines. These pressures are ongoing and intensifying. They will not be limited to one dimension but will encompass military, security, economic, and social spheres.
Fifth: The tense security situation, including bombings, is a reflection and expression of these pressures. It is only the beginning and is likely to expand both in scale and scope, especially given the presence of domestic actors who stand to benefit from it.
Sixth: Along with these overlapping and escalating crises—which are approaching a moment of comprehensive explosion—genuine solutions remain entirely absent, while a wait-and-see approach continues to prevail.
What is to be done?
An objective assessment of the risks facing the country, together with an analysis of their likely trajectory, leads to the conclusion that Syria is entering a period of exceptional difficulty and danger. Urgent emergency measures are needed, foremost among them:
First: Turn toward the Syrian people, genuinely rely on them, and work to unite them in both word and action. The primary gateway to achieving this is the rapid establishment of a fully empowered national unity government, whose first task should be convening a general national conference.
Second: Take advantage of the new regional and international environment, as well as emerging regional rapprochements, by adopting a sound strategic alignment that enables Syria to protect its unity against “Israeli”-American risks and threats.
Third: Develop and implement a new economic model that relies primarily on domestic resources, with agriculture, industry, and the real productive foundations of the economy at its core, rather than on flashiness and tourism-driven showcases. It should also seek to benefit from the world’s emerging economies, foremost among them China.
Syrians, in all their political and social currents, no longer have the luxury of waiting while the current deadlock persists. This impasse is rapidly approaching a destructive explosion. At the same time, however, it offers a golden opportunity to save the country and set it on the path to recovery. That opportunity is limited in time, and its prerequisites are now clear. Foremost among them is genuine national political will to save the country and its people.
