Attracting the best and the brightest

Many others went to Europe and the Americas in increasing numbers that reached a peak on the eve of World War I. Syrian and Lebanese immigrants make up the largest proportion of the Arab community abroad, particularly in North and Latin America. They have achieved distinguished positions in politics, business, culture and society and supported the national liberation movements from their self-imposed exiles.

However, they were not considered worthy citizens until after World War II, when all were invited to build on the political stability of their “peace-loving” societies. They incorporated themselves into the new communities, while home to which they may pay tourist visits became the very a part of their past.

But expatriates who hoped to return left the country much later. Although people continued to leave for better work and life opportunities, the drive of nationalization and land appropriation and the political instability of the 1960s were responsible for the enormous capital light and an extensive exodus of administrators and other skilled technicians and professionals.

Many headed to neighboring Jordan and Lebanon, where Syrian expatriates dominate many businesses as well as professional and academic posts until today.

In the 1970s, more skilled workers, engineers, doctors, professionals and managers had to leave to the oil-rich, labor-poor Gulf, due to the low wages in the public sector, the largest employer in the country. More people left in the 1980s following the internal political disorders and the severe economic crisis.

Over these years, the economy suffered a lack of competent workers and trained professionals in a wide variety of fields. With the reform now under way, the industrial management skills and expertise of the Syrian expatriates became necessary. Although deep in their hearts remains an enduring homesickness and desire to re-turn, they have got used to a life that is led much more easily abroad than at home.

Adapting to a more demanding, less paying setting is not wise, especially that the future of their children, whose expectations are heightened by the unlimited low of information and foreign education, is much more promising there. But still, there is that “break-even point” at which a Syrian expatriate may take the first plane home.

For the money power, brain-power and manpower to arrive at this turn-ing point, they need political, economic and social stability. Under the remarkable political stability in Syria, continuous without interruption for the past three decades, the need has matured for a properly functioning civil society, simply the non-governmental institutions, like unions, syndicates, association and clubs that will collect and convey the public opinion each in its own field.

To lay the foundations for a real civil society, it is inevitable to reactivate and boost the role of these institutions, affirming their independence from the government while not necessarily being at odds with it. These institutions will assess the performance of the executive branch, in turn free of all interference that hinders its ability to serve the benefit of the whole population.

They will work within the frame of a sovereign civil law, before which all citizens stand equal regardless of their affiliations. A politically independent and autonomous judiciary will fight corruption in its various shapes and on all levels, monitoring the spending of public funds. The same goes for the press, which will take its judicious and critical role fully, analyzing the points of weakness and strength and weighing accomplishments as well as failures fairly.

The civil society will help lift up an already elevated feeling of citizenship among the population, and put more emphasis on the culturally discarded concept of rights and duties. Naturally, political security overlaps with economic and social stability.

Politics will draw the ideological frame in which the economy functions, distributing resources and responsibilities over the public, private and joint sectors. In this respect, Syrian investors would like to hear clear assurances that their country is a safe shelter for their wealth and that the right of private and individual ownership is enshrined by law.

Apart from pushing the expatriate work-force to come back and offer their skills and experience to their country, that will enhance the circulation and distribution of money, and will reduce the gap between various segments. Education is a channel of upward mobility and a means to fight poverty. Therefore it should be efficient and adequate, starting from the elementary years through higher education.

Since universities are centers of free intellectual interaction and recreation that would lead the cultural movement in the country, students will have equal opportunity for university education that pro-vides them with the qualification required by the marketplace, effectively dealing with the revolutions in technology and telecommunications. Better universities and academic institutions, whether public or private, will attract Syrian brainpower currently offering their research and teaching skills elsewhere in the Middle East, Europe and the US.

Academics and researchers are think tanks that supply the theoretical frame of the process of reform and modernization, and will provide the governmental committees responsible for modernizing legislation with qualified and experienced personnel. Like any other society, the Syrian society is a mosaic of social groups whose interests sometimes conflict.

However, a set of shared values binds the population into one nation that calls for the active participation of all its nationals to achieve development and growth. The Syrian leadership seems to be in accord with many calls by intellectuals, expatriates and residents, on what needs to be done in Syria at this stage.

There have been commitments to political, social, and economic reform, and serious steps in that direction have already been taken, realizing at the same time that reform has to be gradual and well planned. After all, time has arrived for all Syrians to take part collectively and individually in the shaping the future of their country.

This is a time of national unity that Syrians should embrace, so that Syria won’t be searching again for a way to lure expatriates back home, a place that should not become again reminiscences of a distant past.