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What I Learned in Syria - The Autonomous Administration and the Democratic Confederalist Model

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In November of 2023, I and my filmmaker friend Rachel Shu traveled through the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). There, we met the women who are leading a revolution for democracy, feminism, and ethnic and religious pluralism. They face the threat of assassination on a daily basis, yet continue their work. This is the story of how a group of activists in Syria grew a parallel society to 5 million people, fought ISIS and won, and became the most stable and wealthy place in Syria that more of the population is trying to move into. Origins of the Rojava Revolution During the Arab Spring of 2010-2012, countries across the Middle East and North Africa had uprisings in favor of democracy that often resulteed in zero sum struggles to overthrow the existing central government and replace it with a new group that was just as bad as the last one. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries in the primarily Kurdish region of northeastern Syria tried something else. A few decades pri

Hanging out with random kids we met in the park In November of 2023, I and my filmmaker friend Rachel Shu traveled through the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). There, we met the women who are leading a revolution for democracy, feminism, and ethnic and religious pluralism. They face the threat of assassination on a daily basis, yet continue their work. This is the story of how a group of activists in Syria grew a parallel society to 5 million people, fought ISIS and won, and became the most stable and wealthy place in Syria that more of the population is trying to mov

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