The Price of an Idea: Democratic Revolution in Syria

The Syrian conflict has been an abhorrent stain on humanity in the 21st century. There are few words left that haven’t already been used to describe the tragedy, the violence and the injustices that this country has experienced since the war began in 2011 and in the decades beforehand. However, war is complicated and not all is bleak. In the northeastern corner, a radical democratic project has taken root over the past five years; designed to anchor political voice at the local level and protect the multiple ethnic minorities from the historic state oppression that continues to surround them. It is not perfect – every society has a reality behind its outward face – but the ideas here are intriguing and different. And for many, those ideas are worth dying for.