The Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies has released a major new study titled “Rebuilding Security in Syria: Challenges and Strategies for Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration (DDR), and Security Sector Reform (SSR).” The report presents a comprehensive framework for restoring security in post-conflict Syria, offering a technically grounded roadmap for transforming the country’s fragmented security landscape into a cohesive, nationally representative structure following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
The study provides detailed analysis of the two intertwined pillars essential to Syria’s transition from war to sustainable peace:
- DDR – Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of non-state armed groups;
- SSR – Security Sector Reform, aimed at rebuilding legitimate and accountable military and policing institutions.
According to the Harmoon Center, the success of these efforts depends on a combination of factors: a stable political environment, strong political will, coordinated international and local engagement, and their integration into broader transitional justice efforts and socioeconomic development strategies.
A Context-Specific and Comparative Approach
The study combines theoretical and field-based analysis, drawing from international case studies while grounding its insights in Syria’s uniquely complex post-conflict reality. It carefully classifies local armed factions based on discipline, ideology, and integration potential, and candidly addresses the challenges posed by security fragmentation, foreign fighters, defected officers, and deeply entrenched sectarian and regional loyalties.
Key Challenges Identified
- Multiplicity of armed groups with conflicting agendas, many of which refuse to disarm without credible guarantees;
- Sectarian and ethnic fragmentation and the absence of a unifying national political framework;
- External interference undermining any independent restructuring;
- Lack of binding international legal frameworks for DDR/SSR, with current efforts reliant only on UN guidelines.
Following the disbandment of the former regime’s army by Syria’s new administration, rebuilding a unified national military and security institution has become an urgent priority. The Harmoon study argues that DDR and SSR are critical to this process and must proceed in tandem with the restructuring of security institutions and the transformation of irregular armed groups into recognized components of a new Syrian state.
However, the deep societal divisions and competing external influences complicate implementation. Therefore, the study advocates for a multi-level, inclusive approach that provides both political and security guarantees, while creating economic and social programs that offer real alternatives for former fighters—including jobs, psychosocial support, and community reintegration.
Foundations for Sustainable Peace
The study stresses that real reintegration cannot occur without a broader transformation. A robust legal and institutional framework, grounded in transitional justice and national reconciliation, is essential. DDR and SSR are intrinsically linked to reconstruction and development and must be embedded within an overarching national agenda.
To that end, the study recommends forming an independent national authority to oversee DDR and SSR under a transparent legal structure, while fostering a political environment that includes the creation of a new social contract—one that guarantees individual accountability, protects victims, and avoids the marginalization of former combatants.
The report also emphasizes the need for regional and international consensus, tightly linking DDR and SSR with economic revitalization and transitional justice, and establishing civilian pathways for demobilized fighters that preserve dignity and promote full social integration.
Avoiding Past Mistakes, Building on Successes
Drawing lessons from global experiences, the study cautions against repeating errors seen in:
- Iraq: where dissolving the army without integration plans led to chaos and sectarian conflict;
- Lebanon: where exempting Hezbollah from disarmament produced long-term security instability;
- South Sudan and Afghanistan: where inadequate funding and foreign interference caused DDR failures.
Instead, it recommends learning from more promising models such as:
- Rwanda: where vetted integration and community justice supported reconciliation;
- Bosnia: where ethnically balanced integration and vocational support aided peacebuilding.
The study ultimately calls for a distinctly Syrian model of phased integration, institutional reform, and transparent accountability—guided by a pluralistic, civilian-supervised security structure reflective of the country’s diversity.
Strategic Recommendations
- Integrate DDR and SSR under a unified national project, ensuring that disarmament occurs alongside the creation of inclusive security institutions under civilian oversight.
- Avoid the complete exclusion of fighters; instead, gradually integrate them into state institutions, excluding only those credibly accused of war crimes, who must face judicial accountability.
- Develop sustainable economic programs: including job creation, small business support, microfinance access, and mental health services for demobilized fighters.
- Establish a new social contract: grounded in democratic values, rejecting violence as a tool of governance, and redefining inclusive citizenship.
- Link DDR to transitional justice to ensure victims’ grievances are acknowledged, and to rebuild societal trust.
- Secure international support: for financing, monitoring, and technical oversight—especially during the rebuilding phase of Syria’s security apparatus.
- Carefully manage the issue of foreign fighters: through rigorous vetting and strict conditions for residency or citizenship to protect national cohesion.
- Invest in education and training: to enable former fighters to transition from a wartime economy to a productive civilian life.
Syria-Specific Proposals
- Classify armed factions according to their eligibility for DDR and SSR, dissolution without integration, or exclusion if foreign-based.
- Use the Eighth Brigade in Daraa as a model for incorporating former opposition factions into national structures.
- Rely on defected officers as the core of a new national army, while excluding those from the former regime implicated in human rights violations.
A New Philosophy of Security
Co-author Nawar Shaban sums up the study’s vision:
“This analysis not only offers a technical draft for restructuring Syria’s army and security forces—it lays the foundation for a new security philosophy. One in which the citizen is the central pillar of safety, and professionalism, transparency, and national loyalty—not ideology or political alignment—are the measures of trust. The success of DDR and SSR will not merely mark the end of conflict, but the beginning of a new, unified, civic Syria governed by law and grounded in civil statehood.”
The Harmoon Center’s study offers a vital contribution to the debate on Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction and state-building, proposing an ambitious but necessary path forward for achieving lasting peace and national cohesion.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
