Syria and Imperial and Sub-Imperial Hypocrisy
By Andres Kogan Valderrama
HAVANA TIMES – Regarding the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria on December 8, two major binary narratives have emerged to explain what happened in that country.
On ther one hand, there are those who argue that Bashar al-Assad’s fall is merely the result of a rebellion for freedom against a criminal regime, marking a triumph for Syrian democracy and something to be celebrated.
On the other hand, there are those who claim that Bashar al-Assad’s fall is the result of a plan orchestrated by the United States and Israel to take over the Middle East and install a government subservient to Western imperial interests.
The truth is that both narratives oversimplify a conflict far more complex than that, reproducing the dichotomous discourse of good versus evil seen in Ukraine following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country.
I bring this up because behind these narratives lies significant imperial and sub-imperial hypocrisy from sectors on both the right and left. These factions are not genuinely concerned about the suffering of peoples like the Syrians, Ukrainians, or Palestinians but are instead focused on defending states seeking to impose their dominance.
This is a point raised by critical Syrian thinkers such as Joseph Daher, Al-Haj Saleh, and Leila Al-Shami. While they celebrate Bashar al-Assad’s fall, they understand that Syria’s democratization is still contested and that powerful imperial and sub-imperial interests (the United States, Russia, China, Israel, Turkey, Iran) are at play.
This exposes the hypocrisy of liberal sectors that applaud the rise of jihadist groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, heirs of Al-Qaeda and recognized as an international terrorist organization. This is true even as they now present themselves as moderates open to dialogue.
Likewise, there is hypocrisy from leftist sectors claiming to be anti-imperialist while supporting tyrants like Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin. Under the pretext of backing the so-called Axis of Resistance against the United States and Israel, they disregard the massacres carried out against the Syrian and Ukrainian people.
A stark example of the harm caused by these criminal narratives is the plight of the Palestinian people. Liberal sectors continue to endorse Israeli colonialism, apartheid, and genocide, while alleged anti-imperialists justify Iran’s harmful role, as it exploits the Palestinians for its own benefit.
And what can be said about the Kurdish people, completely abandoned by all existing imperial and sub-imperial powers? Meanwhile, the Turkish state, through the Syrian National Army, continues its efforts to displace and deny an entire people.
Finally, one cannot ignore the pathetic role played by the United Nations Security Council now and throughout history. Through the imperial vetoes of Russia, China, and the United States, it has repeatedly failed to address conflicts and massacres, as seen in Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, and countless other places around the world.
Ultimately, hypocrisy cuts across various states and their supporters. Whether speaking in the name of freedom, democracy, liberation, socialism, revolution, or decolonization, it all amounts to rhetoric aimed at propping up tyrants like Bashar al-Assad, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, or Benjamin Netanyahu.