This article focuses on understanding the new geography of Syria. It argues that the emergence of radicalized actors is not an accidental feature of conflict dynamics, but that the territorial patterns of control have directly served their positioning. Subsequently the article argues that these patterns, intended or not, have fostered the radicalization of the armed actors on all sides, imposing asymmetrical patterns of territoriality that will seriously undermine the top-down approach of the Geneva process.
Author: Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj, Common Space Initiative