Preparations for the Geneva II conference are going according to plan in Syria — or so it seems. The latest step down that road was the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister of Economic Affairs Qadri Jamil from his position. This move was widely criticized, especially since it was considered by some parties to be a collaborative maneuver between Syria and Russia. The advocates of this idea believe that sacking Jamil was only a formal step that aims at making him look like an outlaw and an opponent of the regime. According to them, now a seat will be reserved for him in the upcoming Syrian dialogue conference as an opponent, not as part of the regime in Damascus.

However, followers of the internal Syrian issue asserted that it is only reasonable to link Jamil’s dismissal to the Geneva II Conference. Yet, it is wrong to see it as a mere maneuver. With the Syrian solution just around the corner, especially with the intervention of Western forces, headed by Washington and international organizations, and when it comes to the details of the settlement of the Syrian conflict, a serious and heated issue has resurfaced. It is an issue that revolves around the economic inclinations of the Syrian regime as soon as the war ends and a solution is reached. This is a pivotal and essential role that is in the center of the Geneva II Conference, its preparations, the perceptions for its files and its agenda. It is enough to remember that this issue entails reconstruction — that costs no less than $50 billion — of losses in the infrastructure resulting from events in Syria.

Consequently, the proposed solution in Geneva II alone is enough to send heads spinning. On that note, those following the Syrian issue indicate that there was an old conflict within the ruling bodies in Damascus between two economic trends: a communist and a liberal one. The mentioned conflict had broken out publicly in the last century when Abdullah al-Dardari became deputy prime minister for economic affairs. Dardari was a Syrian economist who was accused of being the father of Syrian neoliberalism and the conqueror of Syrian economy, laws and investment structure in line with the market’s economy, notions of globalization and politics of the international financial and monetary institutions. Some of the regime advocates in Syria regarded him as a Trojan horse appointed by opposing parties to destroy Syria.

After the outbreak of events in Syria in March 2011, many believed that Dardari’s social and economic legacy was a major factor in the eruption of the revolution. He was known for his policies and actions of monopolizing and pooling resources.