Who speaks for Syria today? The regime of Bashar al-Assad has squandered in two short but bloody years what Syria's modern-day founder spent a lifetime building. Hafez al-Assad was determined to reclaim and protect the independence of Syrian decision making from the voracious claims of outside parties, for whom Syria was merely a way station on the path to grander aspirations, not a destination itself. The costs exacted in pursuit of this policy were high, far too high, but for decades most Syrians were prepared to suffer its grievous shortcomings in order to end the endemic instability that had ensnared Syria during its first postwar decades of independence. That bargain has now been shattered beyond repair, and a new Syria is waiting to be born out of the crucible of today's miserable war. 

As the regime atrophied, the ghosts of the old Syria returned with a vengeance. The players are not unfamiliar. Whether national, transnational or sectarian, each seeks to seize a role in the country's future and in so doing undermine Syria's sovereign power to determine its own destiny. Some have Syria's best interests at heart, but many others are content to let Syria and its national identity burn, like Iraq. Where, amid all this, is the Syrian voice in today's battle for the nation's future, and how can it make itself heard above the din of the cannons? In short, what are the views of Syria's “silent majority”?

Finding the answer is the task set by the Syrian Dialogue Project, an initiative by a group of Syrians from inside and outside Syria, including Nidal Alkhoudari, Nabil Beitinjaneh, Sami Bentinjane, Mazen Bilal and Camille Otrakji. They have constructed a “virtual dialogue” among a cross section of Syrians at home and abroad, and who have not taken up arms for one side or another, in an effort to answer the following questions: What do Syrians believe is important to Syrians today, and how can they best shape their future?

“Putting an immediate end to violence and finding political solutions so as to reach a comprehensive peaceful democratic change,” the Dialogue concludes, “is the demand of the majority of Syrian people. What is needed now from all parties is the transition to rationality, to start thinking about settlements and compromises for the sake of the country. All conflicts end by sitting around the dialogue or negotiation table. Everyone has blood on their hands, and everyone has committed serious mistakes. Dialogue, agreement on a transitional period and a national unity government, and consideration of the other side’s fears would ease tension and put Syria’s interest above all.”