Civil Society Development in Syria:
Origins, Trajectory, and the Post-Assad Transition

A summary walkthrough of that original research, developed entirely by Diana Khayyata.

The paper retraces Syrian civil society from its nineteenth century origins, through the consolidation of Ba'ath Party rule, to the first six years of the 2011 uprising: the rise of Local Coordinating Committees and Local Councils, the women-led organisations and grassroots groups that carried the revolution's civic life, and the recurring tension between international support and locally rooted legitimacy. It closes with a 2026 postscript on civil society after Assad's fall.

Diana Khayyata is the founder of Levantina Consulting.

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