Paper Title:
Moving Beyond the Legacy of Centralized Power: Multilevel Governance in Syria

Date:
23 April 2025

Publishers: 
LUGARIT + Omran Center for Strategic Studies

Authors: 
Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj + Hassan Masri

Summary:
This paper argues that Syria’s authoritarianism was upheld through systemic strategies of centralization by weakening local and regional governance. It warns against reinstating this model post-conflict and calls for an inclusive approach to reintegrating the territory. Sustainable recovery, the authors contend, hinges on empowering middle and local levels with real authority and institutional capacity.

Link:
https://link.lugarit.com/Klvn

Photo:
Syrian Parliament House. Damascus, Syria. 15 February 1955.  Photo © Camera Press / Sydney Morning Herald - via Alamy.


Moving Beyond the Legacy of Centralized Power: Multilevel Governance in Syria

A smart contract is a self-executing piece of code that lives in Blockchain. It runs as programmed and once deployed - no one can change it.


Season 1: Blockchain Foundations

Episode 6 - Smart Contracts - Code That Executes Itself

Though the original promise of the internet has been twisted and distorted, today we're seeing more and more people working to restore decentralization and user power online. One such person who sees the problem better than most is Flipboard founder and former Twitter board member (among many other things) Mike McCue, whose new application Surf is a kind of browser for the open social web. Mike joins us on this week's episode to talk all about Surf and the future of the internet.

The Rise Of The Open Social Web

Paper Title:
Local Administration in Transition: Towards Inclusive and Accountable Local Governance in Syria

Date:
20 May 2025

Publishers: 
SALAR International + LUGARIT

Authors: 
Zedoun Al Zoubi, Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj, Ryan Knox, Obidah Alsayed Ali, Nihad Alamiri

Summary:
Syria’s reunification hinges on adopting flexible and inclusive local governance—not a return to centralization. This policy brief shows how Decree 107, if pragmatically reinterpreted, can bridge the current fragmented mosaic of local administration models with formal government structures, enhance accountability and stability, and foster a legitimate, resilient post-conflict transition. 

Link:
https://link.lugarit.com/HeiX

Photo: 
Marota City, Damascus — once envisioned as a model for local government financing, now stands as a stark reminder of the costs of centralized planning imposed on communities. Built on expropriated land, it embodies the disconnect between state-driven visions and local realities. 24 April 2025.  Photo © Jadd Hallaj / LUGARIT.


Local Administration in Transition: Towards Inclusive and Accountable Local Governance in Syria

العنوان 
الإدارة المحلية في المرحلة الانتقالية : نحو حوكمة محلية تشاركية ومسؤولة في سوريا

تاريخ النشر
٢٠ أيار ٢٠٢٥

الناشر 
SALAR International + LUGARIT

المؤلفون
زيدون الزعبي ، عمر عبد العزيز الحلاج ، رايان نوكس ، عبيدة السيد علي

الخلاصة
يعتمد توحيد سوريا على تبني حوكمة محلية تشاركية، لا على العودة إلى المركزية. يوضح هذا الموجز كيف يُمكن للمرسوم ١٠٧، إذا أُعيد تفسيره وطُبّق عمليًا، أن يربط النماذج الحالية المُجزأة للإدارة المحلية مع هياكل الدولة، وأن يُعزز المساءلة والاستقرار وشرعية العملية الانتقالية السياسية في البلاد.

الرابط
https://link.lugarit.com/HeiX

الصورة
ماروتا سيتي، دمشق - التي كانت تُعتبر في السابق نموذجًا لتمويل الحكومات المحلية، تُمثل الآن تذكيرًا صارخًا بتكاليف التخطيط المركزي المفروض على المجتمعات المحلية. بُنيت على أراضٍ مُصادرة، وهي تُجسد الفجوة بين الرؤى الحكومية والواقع المحلي. ٢٤ أبريل ٢٠٢٥. الصورة © جاد حلاج / لوغاريت.


الإدارة المحلية في المرحلة الانتقالية : نحو حوكمة محلية تشاركية ومسؤولة في سوريا

Paper Title:
Beyond FDIs: Towards Sustainable and Socially Accountable Investment in Syria

Date:
24 June 2025

Publisher: 
LUGARIT

Author: 
Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj

Summary:
The article critiques blanket investment incentives in Syria’s recovery, urging performance-based, socially accountable policies. It advocates sector- and region-specific strategies, safeguards against elite capture, and decentralization to empower local governance. Drawing on regional lessons, it promotes investment that generates public value, reduces inequality, and supports inclusive, sustainable reconstruction.

Link:
https://link.lugarit.com/UaX5

Photo: 
Residents of Eastern Aleppo queue for bread on a harsh winter morning. In a city scarred by conflict and deprivation, such scenes reflect the urgent need for recovery strategies that serve the many, not the few.  Aleppo, Syria.  23 January 2025.  Photo © Andrea Backhaus - via ShutterStock.


Beyond FDIs: Towards Sustainable and Socially Accountable Investment in Syria

العنوان 
الاستثمارات الأجنبية لا تكفي: نحو تمويل مستدام يستجيب لاحتياجات المجتمع في سوريا

تاريخ النشر
٢٤ حزيران ٢٠٢٥

الناشر 
لوغاريت 

المؤلف
عمر عبد العزيز الحلاج 

الخلاصة
تنتقد المقالة سياسة الحوافز الاستثمارية الشاملة في سوريا بعد الصراع، وتدعو إلى سياسات قائمة على الأداء وخاضعة للمساءلة الاجتماعية. وتطرح استراتيجيات محددة بحسب القطاعات والمناطق، وآليات للحد من هيمنة النخب، وتؤكد على اللامركزية. مستفيدة من دروس إقليمية، تعزز الاستثمار الذي يخدم الصالح العام ويحد من التفاوت ويدعم إعادة إعمار شاملة ومستدامة.

الرابط 
https://link.lugarit.com/UaX5

الصورة
يصطفّ سكان شرق حلب في طابور الخبز في صباح شتوي قارس. في مدينة أنهكتها الحرب والحرمان، تعكس هذه المشاهد الحاجة الملحّة إلى استراتيجيات تعافٍ تخدم الجميع، لا القلّة. حلب، سوريا. ٢٣ كانون الثاني ٢٠٢٥. الصورة © أندريا باكهاوس - عبر شترستوك.


الاستثمارات الأجنبية لا تكفي: نحو تمويل مستدام يستجيب لاحتياجات المجتمع في سوريا

We've got one more cross-post episode for you this week! A few weeks ago, Mike joined host Aaron Ross Powell on the ReImagining Liberty podcast for a discussion that digs into the the philosophy and principles underlying the push for internet decentralization and protocols over platforms, and why this shift is both desirable and, in the long term, likely. You can listen to the whole conversation here on this week's episode.

Reclaiming The Internet

We've got a cross-post episode this week, with Mike's recent appearance on the Computer Says Maybe podcast hosted by Alix Dunn. The discussion starts out looking at decentralization and Bluesky, then goes way beyond that into the early days of the internet and the concept of the Eternal September. You can listen to the whole conversation here on this week's episode.

The Eternal September

As you know, we talk a lot about decentralization and protocols over platforms. When it comes to decentralized social media in particular, one person who has been working on it since the earliest days is developer Rabble, who was around at the very beginning of what would become Twitter and has worked on many decentralized social media efforts, and recently proposed a new Social Media Bill of Rights in a post here on Techdirt. This week, Rabble joins the podcast to talk all about the history and present state of decentralized social media.

An Insider's View Of Decentralized Social Media

The Techdirt Podcast, hosted by Michael Masnick.

LUGARIT is a small think tank active in international development.

Thabiso Njoko is a Multidisciplinary Designer, Artist and Businessman. Founder/President of Riska_D_Rollaz Records. Founder/CEO, A&R/Promotion at Secunda Henderson management. Blockchain Technology Advocate

New tracks tagged #Decentralization