On the eve of the Geneva 2 Conference, success would be defined in one of two ways:

1) A route towards a peaceful solution to the crisis

2) A clear indication that the interests of peaceful, liberal Syrians are being represented

Sadly, it is clear that there is no chance of either.

The long process leading to the conference has demonstrated the same flaws as those leading to the ‘Friends of Syria’ meetings in the past.

The uprising against the regime began as a peaceful movement calling for freedom and democracy. And yet the only ‘opposition’ group invited to the table is the Syrian National Coalition whose interests are aligned with the extreme and undemocratic views of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Islamists. This means that there is no moderate opposition group in attendance.

As a result, the international community will deal with two extremes, the Regime and a collection of Islamists.

This is hardly encouraging for the peaceful majority.

Meanwhile, Iran has been dis-invited from the conference to appease the Coalition. Tehran’s behaviour has hardly been angelic, and yet Saudi will be in attendance, despite her export of sectarian rhetoric and funding for extreme Islamist groups that has acted as a catalyst for full-scale war and the atrocities carried out against minorities across Syria.

There is no ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in the Syrian civil war. We are dealing with groups intent on retaining a dictatorship or introducing a theocracy. Until the ‘peace’ process commits to a genuine democracy, where all citizens are equal under the rule of law regardless of religion, ethnicity, sect and gender, the process can only fail.

This is a sad reflection on the role of the international community over the past three years, where vested interests have diverted attention from the interests of the real victims in this crisis: The Syrian people themselves.

Ribal Al-Assad

ODFS Director