Weiser Diplomacy Center hosts talk on reconstruction in Syria

The University of Michigan’s Weiser Diplomacy Center hosted Qutaiba Idlbi, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, and Dr. Abdalmajid Katranji, an adjunct faculty member at the Michigan State University who has participated in Syrian medical relief efforts, to deliver a talk Thursday afternoon on post-civil war reconstruction in Syria. The talk focused on the past 14 years of civil war in Syria, the current state-building strategies of the new Syrian government and the challenges Syria faces on the current road to reconstruction.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed Dec. 8th, 2024 after years of stalemate in the Syrian civil war. He was replaced as leader of Syria by Ahmed al-Sharaa, alternatively known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, who is the head of a group known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham originally based in the Syrian city of Idlib. 

During the talk, Idlbi said the civil war in Syria has left much devastation that the country is still working to recover from, citing the brain drain, or the departure of educated or professional people, it has created.

“There’s a lot for Syrians to rebuild; half of Syria has left the country,” Idlbi said. “So I think this is one of the biggest brain drains that we’ve seen since World War II. The displacement of Syrians is the biggest since World War II.”

Idlbi also said despite the devastation left by the civil war, Syrians are happy to be free of the authoritarianism and human rights violations that occurred under Assad’s regime.

“They are still high on joy and happiness that they finally got their country back,” Idlbi said. “You can feel the hunger or see the hunger on people’s faces, but you can also see the smiles and the joy on their faces that they are finally free.”

Currently, as well as before becoming president, Sharaa has received criticism from some in the West for his ties to Al-Qaeda. Katranji and Idlbi disagree with this characterization, pointing out that Sharaa cut ties with Al-Qaeda and has since fought against both them and ISIS. Katranji discussed his experiences providing humanitarian relief in HTS-controlled Idlib after an earthquake, highlighting the development of public institutions and civil society groups dedicated to reconstruction efforts such as the White Helmets.

“There was structure, there was institutions and that’s what’s critical to understand,” Katranji said. “There was institutional behavior. There wasn’t this idea of the warlord or the political boss that you had to get their blessing. There was actually civic engagement, civic authority, independent of the ruling council.”

Katranji then discussed his experiences providing aid in Assad’s territory after the earthquake, which he said was a stark contrast to the relatively well-functioning governance in Idlib.

“There was no structure, and we were still rescuing people still trapped underneath the building, because there was no civil brigade,” Katranji said. “People were trying, but just to get permission to use the very bulldozers to move rubble out of the way they had to bribe several authorities several levels up, so that was on the regime’s side. I knew immediately that this wasn’t going to last.”

Idlbi said he believed that while the extended civil war unleashed massive suffering upon the Syrian population, it also gave them space and time to create self-governing institutions they did not have the opportunity to construct under Assad’s government. He contrasted this with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, where the U.S. deposed the ruling Ba’ath party and failed to construct a viable system to replace it.

“There was no time for Iraqis to really figure out how they can figure out how they can be Iraqis without Ba’ath,” Idlbi said. “We tried to impose one model that fit all, and there was no model that fit all. … In Syria there was that gap where Syrians were able to come together. They already started nation building, we’re not coming in to set up systems. Syrians already know what they want to build.”

Despite previous U.S. failures in the region, Idlbi said he believed the U.S. could do good in Syria and should stay involved in the reconstruction process.

“I don’t know about staying out, I do believe in a good American role across the world,” Idlbi said. “We can’t really escape who we are: We’re the empire of this era, whether we like it or not. Do they need our support? Absolutely, but not to dictate Syrians. They have built the Syrian Dream, which I believe is very similar to the American Dream.” 

Katranji then discussed sanctions imposed on Syria by the U.S. through the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act. These sanctions were originally imposed to put pressure on the ruling Assad government, but have not been lifted in the aftermath of Assad’s fall. Katranji said he believed this was a mistake.

“If you wait too long, then another vacuum will be created, somebody else will step in,” Katranji said. “Right now, you have somebody who’s giving you a good promise. He’s not an angel — and we’re not asking for angels — but you also have a society that’s right now willing to forgive and move forward.”

Katranji also emphasized the need for the quick removal of sanctions and the agreement in world opinion on the matter.

“The next three months are absolutely critical in which we can engage our civic leadership here in the United States,” Katranji said. “Globally, the European Union has already relaxed sanctions, the United Nations has already said ‘relax sanctions.’ Basically everybody has told (us to), even Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who rarely agree with each other.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Art & Design senior Razaan Killawi, co-president of Students Organize for Syria, said that she appreciated the event and hoped that more students would take interest in similar ones in the future. She also encouraged students to follow on-the-ground reporting in Syria.

“I think it’s really meaningful when (students) can come to events led by Syrians and for the larger community, not just for Syrians, to learn from them and see what is actually happening,” Killawi said. “And I would say to continue to pursue information and information specifically from journalists on the ground especially, because a huge problem in Syria is the war of disinformation.”

Daily Staff Reporter Glenn Hedin can be reached at heglenn@umich.edu.

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