The Political Outlook of the Syrian Opposition: A Restrospective Analysis

The popular demonstrations in Syria that began in March 2011 transformed into a civil war and have been going on. The political movements in Syria suppressed for more than forty years have been reinvigorated with the Arab Spring. Several factors have been effective in the failure of the popular movements and the spread of the conflict into the region. This brief examines the emergence and transformation of the political opposition in Syria and also aims to shed light on debates about the contemporary Syrian opposition. The lack of organization among opposition movements and the importance of the representation issue for its stagnancy are important points underlined in this brief. The brief focuses on such issues as how opposition movements, which are disconnected from the people, did not emerge out of them and did not take the people’s demand into consideration; as well as the regional and global dynamics of the representation problem