Why an Independent Druze State in Syria Isn’t Viable |
Syrian government forces intervene in Suwayda, Syria, to enforce a ceasefire between Druze factions and Bedouin tribes on July 20, 2025. The underdeveloped and resource-poor Suwayda government cannot provide a basis for a self-sufficient Druze state, writes Adam Dehsabzi. (Shutterstock/Mohammad Bash)
Why an Independent Druze State in Syria Isn’t Viable
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Poor governance and few resources in the Druze-majority Suwayda governorate mean that the Syrian government may only have to wait for the right time to reintegrate the region.
Throughout the 14-year civil war, the regime of Bashar al-Assad somewhat disingenuously presented the protection of Syria’s minorities as a justification for the regime’s rule. According to this narrative, the regime was the only defense of religious minorities in the face of the largely Islamist opposition groups fighting it, who would persecute them should the Assad government fall. Regrettably, these cautions materialized not too long after the regime collapsed and Assad fled in December 2024.
In March of the following year, a series of sectarian massacres against the Alawites occurred in the coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartus after remnants of the former Assad regime, who had declared themselves the new “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria,” ambushed the transitional government’s security forces. In reaction, both state and non-state forces waged a bloody campaign, killing at least 1,400 Alawites. Throughout their 50-year grip on Syria, the Assads disproportionately recruited their fellow Alawites into the Baathist military, exploiting sectarian fears to fortify the regime. As a result, the harrowing violence was a form of retaliatory and collective punishment.
Sectarian violence broke out again in July in the Druze-majority governorate of Suwayda in southeastern Syria. The violence was sparked by a robbery and confrontation at a checkpoint, leading to retaliatory kidnappings between Druze militias and armed Sunni Bedouin tribesmen. The escalating unrest prompted the transitional government’s forces to intervene in support of the Bedouin tribes, killing up to 1,700 civilians, mostly of the Druze sect, as well as Israeli strikes in support of the........