The interview with Zedoun Al Zoubi explores the challenges and opportunities for Syria’s fragile social fabric amid poverty, fear, and persistent sectarian tensions. Reflecting on his recent trip to Syria after years in exile, he describes an emotional journey marked by encounters across seven provinces—from Damascus and Daraa to Raqqa, Idlib, Latakia, and Qamishli—where he sought to hear the voices of diverse communities. His testimony captures both the resilience and the vulnerability of ordinary Syrians.

A central theme is the interplay between poverty, fear, and the risks of communal conflict. Zedoun stresses that poverty cuts across all identities and regions, turning communities into “ticking time bombs” susceptible to manipulation by external actors. The combination of deprivation and insecurity fuels mistrust and deepens social fractures, threatening both local coexistence and national cohesion. He underscores that sectarianism is neither new nor inevitable but has been exacerbated since 2011 by irresponsible rhetoric, elite manipulation, and the failure to address grievances.

Throughout his journey, Zedoun highlights both positive signals—such as demands for civil statehood, non-sectarian dialogue, and community resilience—and disturbing patterns, including harassment, discrimination, and the weaponization of identity. He warns against the dangers of demonizing social or religious symbols, which transforms political disputes into existential threats for entire communities. Social media, he argues, magnifies polarization and hate speech, obscuring the more complex realities experienced on the ground.

The interview emphasizes dialogue as the cornerstone of any path forward. Zedoun outlines four interconnected types of dialogue: local, community-based, sectoral, and political.  These forms of dialogue can be pursued in parallel.  Political dialogue should engage the government and political elites, but it cannot stand alone. Local dialogue can unfold in every region, district, or governorate, addressing specific needs and enabling communities to regain agency over their daily lives. Community-based dialogue must bridge divides across religions, sects, and ethnic groups, fostering recognition of shared suffering and aspirations. Sectoral dialogue, meanwhile, can bring together professionals across fields such as health, education, and media to generate practical solutions to common challenges. These dialogues are not mutually exclusive; one may begin with sectoral and local discussions, or with local and community-based efforts, which can then feed into broader political engagement. What matters, Zedoun stresses, is to launch and sustain these conversations in order to dismantle mistrust and build the foundations for peace.

Decentralization is presented not as a threat to unity but as a framework for inclusive governance, enabling communities to manage daily affairs while reinforcing a strong and cooperative central state. For Zedoun, partnership between center and peripheries is essential: a weak center and marginalized peripheries risk fragmentation, while balanced power-sharing can foster recovery.

Ultimately, he situates the struggle for national identity, social peace, and inclusiveness as one and the same. Syrians, he concludes, face a decisive moment: either to build a shared civic identity that ensures dignity, justice, and coexistence, or to fall into cycles of civil war, fragmentation, and foreign dependency. The choice, he insists, remains in Syrians’ own hands.