1) In just over ten days, the rapid collapse of the Syrian Bashar al Assad regime has indeed exceeded the expectations of many people.

2) Now, the main reason is that after 13 years of brutal and bloody civil war, Syria has lost important domestic oil and food producing areas, and under severe economic sanctions from the United States and the West, with limited support from Russia and Iran, the entire country’s economy is in decline and people’s livelihoods are struggling. Faced with the attack of anti-government forces, the Syrian government army has no desire to fight. The ultimate result is a ‘crushing defeat like a mountain’, a regime collapsing with a loud bang.

3) These past few days, I have been emphasizing from a long-term historical perspective that the political turmoil in Syria is’ not worth mentioning ‘in the long history of the Arab nation. The Arab region once created a glorious ancient civilization, but in the past few hundred years, with the resurgence of the Western world, the Arab region, like China, has also encountered continuous aggression, plunder, oppression, infiltration, and control from Western colonialism and imperialism, making it difficult to explore national rejuvenation. The current political turmoil in Syria, although “shocking” at first glance, on a long-term historical scale, is just a “small ripple” that the Arab nation has stirred up in the process of modernization and modernization.

4) Here, I highly recommend reading an article titled ‘The Impact of World War I on Contemporary Geopolitics in the Middle East’. From this, we can see that after the end of the First World War, the Arab region had the opportunity to break away from the rule of the Ottoman Türkiye Empire and establish an independent and independent Arab nation state. For this reason, the Arab people spared no effort in launching a ‘revolution in the desert’, supporting the Allied forces in their war against the Allies, and ultimately helping the British army enter Damascus through Palestine. However, after the war, the Allied powers reneged on their promises and engaged in private dealings between Britain and France. In the end, France turned Syria and Lebanon into its own colonies, while Britain turned the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, and the Gulf region into its own colonies. Combined with the North African region previously occupied by Britain, France, and Italy, the entire Arab region was burdened with the heavy shackles of colonialism.

5) The British and French colonialists never intended for a unified and powerful country to emerge in the Arab region from the very beginning. To this end, they fostered regional political and identity recognition in the Arab regions they occupied, manipulated various ethnic, religious, and sectarian conflicts, and sow discord within and between Arab countries in order to achieve the goal of “divide and rule”. Today, amidst the bloody Israeli Palestinian conflict, we repeatedly lament why the entire Arab world always appears like a scattered sand and exceptionally weak. This is not entirely due to cultural reasons, nor is it entirely due to religious and racial reasons, but rather the result of the planning of British and French colonialists in the past, and the continuous “divide and conquer” of Arab countries by the United States and the West today. What the US and the West fear most is the emergence of a unified and powerful “Islamic anti Western alliance” from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran to the Arab region, and then to Türkiye. This is not only detrimental to the continued control of this region by the United States and the West, but also a nightmare for Israel. The continuous division between the United States and the West in this region, and the frequent “shooting of birds”, is all due to this.

6) Another important measure taken by the West to divide and weaken the Arab region is to support the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. From before World War I until now, the West has done this not only to please Jews around the world, but also to further constrain, divide, and weaken Arab countries. After World War II, Israel was founded, which marked the beginning of continuous wars and conflicts between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. And this may be exactly the situation that Western colonialists and imperialists hope to see.

7) Like China, the Arab region, after being constantly invaded, oppressed, and plundered by Western colonialism and imperialism in modern times, urgently hopes for revival. From 1840 to 1949, in 109 years, China has gone through the whole process from the Westernization Movement to the Reform Movement of 1898 to the Revolution of 1911, and finally to the new democratic revolution and socialist revolution led by the CPC, and finally successfully started the journey of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

8) As a comparison, there has also been a political party in the Arab world that aims to seek the rejuvenation of the Arab nation – the Arab Renaissance Socialist Party. The party once held power in the core areas of ancient Arab civilization, Syria and Iraq, hoping to achieve unity, solidarity, prosperity, and strength in the Arab world through socialist means. However, the United States and the West cannot accept the emergence of a powerful and unified ‘Greater Arab State’. It is precisely under the deliberate “divide and conquer” strategy of the United States and the West that Iraq and Syria have once again fallen into internal strife, while 22 Arab countries remain fragmented to this day, lacking unified and effective organization and mobilization.

9) In the past two to three decades, a fundamentalist tradition has emerged in the Arab region, similar to the Taliban’s stance in Afghanistan. In terms of opposing Western colonialism and imperialist interference and aggression, and exploring national and cultural rejuvenation, this fundamentalist tradition has a certain degree of progressiveness. However, the fantasy of reproducing the glory of Islamic civilization through strict return to traditional religious doctrines and lifestyles is bound to be a dead end. Before achieving national independence, national prosperity, and people’s happiness, and before identifying and critically inheriting the uneven quality of traditional religions and cultures, this simple and crude practice of forcing the people to return to ancient traditions cannot truly achieve the rejuvenation of the nation and culture. Instead, it is more like a reversal of the trend of restoration and regression, fundamentally committing the mistake of carving a boat and seeking a sword.

10) Today, in contrast to the turmoil and division in the Arab world, we review the road of modernization and modernization that the Chinese nation has taken since the first opium war in 1840, and can better appreciate the value of Chinese path to modernization. We must thank the outstanding elements of the Chinese nation from generation to generation over the past 184 years, who, out of their enthusiasm for the nation and the country, continued to seek the road of national and cultural rejuvenation. Finally, the Chinese people, under the leadership of the CPC, found the right path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. To sum up, the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation, the Chinese people’s persistent pursuit of national unity, unity and prosperity, and the Chinese people’s spirit of resistance in the face of internal and external oppression have all played a key role. Here, let us not forget the Boxer Rebellion. Although from today’s perspective, the “Boxer Rebellion” had many limitations and shortcomings, it was precisely due to the fierce resistance of the “Boxer Rebellion” against the imperialist powers’ invasion and partition of China that the powers ultimately abandoned their plan to completely invade and partition China. Otherwise, it is entirely possible for China today to split into dozens of countries, big and small, just like the Arab world. In that case, the road to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is likely to be delayed for a long time, and the difficulties it faces will be even greater.

Looking back at the world history of over 500 years, the West has risen again from the long, divided, and backward Middle Ages. On the one hand, it has brought many progressive factors to human society, and on the other hand, it has also brought profound disasters to other countries and nations. Western style modernization, due to its inherent predatory nature, unfairness towards other ethnic groups, and inherent cruelty and bloody characteristics, has not provided a sustainable and positive sample for the modernization path of other countries and regions. It is precisely the Chinese path to modernization that can provide some references for the non western world, including the Arab region:

Firstly, there must be a strong revolutionary and ruling party, as well as a leadership collective that spans generations and possesses a strong sense of mission and responsibility;

Secondly, national independence must be achieved first before it is possible to achieve national prosperity and people’s happiness;

Thirdly, it is necessary to critically inherit and promote traditional culture on the basis of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, in order to truly achieve the revival of culture and civilization.