The Syrian researcher Muhsen AlMustafa at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies explained that “the restructuring of the Ministry of Defense and the army presents a major challenge for the new Syrian administration.” He told Al-Hurra that at the top of these challenges is the process of integrating the military factions into the army after their dissolution. The file of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) remains unresolved, especially as negotiations between the two sides continue. AlMustafa noted that the vision presented by its leader Mazloum Abdi resembles, to some extent, the situation of the Peshmerga forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, saying: “This demand is primarily rooted in ethnic reasons.”

Regarding the southern factions, he explained that their insistence on remaining as “solid blocs” stems from “their own local and regional motivations.” He does not believe that “adopting this model, based on solid blocs within the military institution, will make it more efficient; rather, it could strengthen loyalty to the faction at the expense of loyalty to the military institution as a whole.”

On the other hand, AlMustafa added that the demands to join as solid blocs do not seem to align with the vision of the new administration, which is moving toward building a professional army based on the principle of citizenship. He said this divergence could create a major challenge in resolving the issue and might even lead to future military conflict, though this is unlikely in the near term.

The national conference may compel all military factions to dissolve themselves and merge into the Ministry of Defense under the legitimacy it will acquire. The researcher added that pressure tools may also include offering political guarantees to these factions or providing temporary privileges to facilitate integration. However, “the military option remains possible if these factions refuse to comply,” AlMustafa concluded in his statement to Al-Hurra.