Generations have grown up preaching the grand ideas of Arabism. It started from King Faysal right after World War II. It was then handed down to Shukri al-Quwatli and his generation of nationalists in the 1940s and 1950s. On the first independence day in 1946, he famously said that he won’t let any flag fly higher than the Syrian Flag except one—the Flag of Arabism. He did just that in 1958 and sacrificed “Syrianism” for “Arabism First.” He gave Syria to President Gamal Abdul-Nasser of Egypt, never imagining the nightmare that would come next. During the union years (1958-1961) celebrations were canceled on Syrian Independence Day. Instead, the Syrians had to celebrate the July 23 Revolution in Egypt as their National Day. Damascus was no longer capital of Syria—its central administration and all decision-making shifted to Cairo. Embassies no longer operated in the capital of the Umayyads. Arabism First proved catastrophic—and brought down Nasser’s Republic in 1961.

Nasser—the Godfather of Arabism—created a police state in Syria. He was responsible for terminating political party life in Syria, confrontation with the Western world, and the destructive socialism that ruined the Syrian economy. He was responsible for the destruction of the civil, Westernized, and educated Syrian middle and upper-class. He was responsible for land redistribution, nationalization of schools and banks, confiscation of property, martial law and arbitrary arrests. He was the first person ever to order the Syrian Post Office to conduct espionage on correspondences between Syrians and the outside world.

He was the first person to monitor phone calls in Syria. He was responsible for the large-scale immigration that took place in 1958-1961, when promising Syrian businessmen were forced to leave Syria to evade his socialist dragnet. They ended up establishing businesses and opening banks in Lebanon and throughout the Arab World, depriving Syria of their industrial, banking, and commercial services. He was responsible for that ugly Soviet hallmark that was imposed on Syria. Nasser was responsible for the fiasco of 1967. He was responsible for dreams—only dreams, which turned out to be nothing but illusions. All of that suffering—after all—was for the sake of Arabism First! When unfulfilled, they left us in grand disappointment. The United Arab Republic like the Third Reich of Adolph Hitler, promised to endure 100-years, but came down with thunder due to the police state created by Nasser. Union, great and symbolic as it was for Nasser’s Egypt and for Arab nationalists around the world, was actually catastrophic for Syria. Then came a series of events that showed us how fragile Arabism actually was: the war of 1967, Camp David in 1978, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the occupation of Kuwait, the Gulf War of 1991, and finally, the occupation of Iraq.

I belong to a generation of Syrians who returned to Syria at will—wanting to take part in nation-building, many years after the break-up of the United Arab Republic. I personally did not return out of a passion for Arabism. I returned because I loved Syria. Had Syria been located in Europe—or the Far East—it would have been even better, as far as I am concerned. Just so Arab readers won’t get me wrong—I started out as an Arab nationalist. I adored Gamal Abdul-Nasser. I still have tremendous respect for the man—he was a legend that one cannot but respect, despite his faults vis-à-vis Syria. He was an honest man who loved his people, worked sincerely for them, but had a terrible vision. He was an illusioned man—and that is not good when one plans on leading the Arab World.

So many illusions have got me shedding serious doubt about Arabism—where it took us, and where it will lead in the 21st Century. A popular saying that if one is in his 20s and doesn’t believe in socialism, then he has no heart—and if one reaches his 30s and still believes in socialism, he has no mind! That applies to me, when it comes to Arabism. I am still very much committed to certain Arab countries, however, with whom I can affiliate—like Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine. But these nations do not shape my identity—and nor do I identify myself as “Syrian Arab.” I am Syrian. Period. I preach Syrian nationalism—the S Word.

Syrians should re-read their history. Essentially, the West never cared for the well-being of Arabs, and certainly not for the well-being of Syrians. With a few notable exceptions (Egypt and Lebanon in the 1940s and 1950s, Iraq in the 1970s, and Saudi Arabia for most of the 20th century), the Arabs also never really cared for the welfare of Syria. For the most part, it was the other way around. We cared—obsessed with Arabism first—by what was happening in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt—and Algeria. Why did the French colonize Syria in 1920? Because they saw a lot of potential in this small Middle East country that they wanted to exploit, and did, by tearing it apart into smaller states. Why did the Americans launch the first coup d'etat of the Arab world in 1949 in Damascus? Because they realized that the Syrians, government and public alike, were a hard-headed and stubborn people who would not fulfill U.S. interests in the Middle East. Why did the Arabs stand by and watch while all of this was happening—and they are doing it again today in 2005-2008—because they fear the Syrians. In as much as they respect them, need them, and value their contributions, they are uncomfortable with Syria. They have always been uncomfortable with Syria. Why did the Americans try to launch two coups in Syria in the 1950s? Why did the entire Arab World (excluding Egypt) say ‘yes’ to U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower? Again, because the Syrians were acting too independently from U.S. interests in the Arab world and cozying up to the Soviet Union.

This is the reality of Syria's history with the Western and Arab world. Syrians, under global scrutiny today because of the anti-Syrian media campaign, are actually a proud people who never wanted their lives or actions to be dictated by a Western power, be it London, Paris, Washington Moscow, or any of the Arab World. They tried it once with Cairo and will never repeat it again.

I am a stranger in what I am saying, by the way. The majority of Syrians are Arab nationalists to the bone. Arab nationalism—after all—was born in Damascus. Contrary to what the West believes, this nationalism was not created by the Ba'athists when they came to power in 1963. It existed under Shukri al-Quwatli in the 1940s, under Adib al-Shishakli in the 1950s, and under the early Ba'athists in the 1960s. President Hafez al-Assad was a dedicated Arab nationalist. It is part of Syria's national identity. The Americans cannot expect to change that overnight. The issues on which the U.S. government has been haranguing Syria since 2003 happen to be the issues where there is a consensus between the street and government, and these issues mainly concern Lebanon, Palestine and the Iraqi resistance.

Syrians are not like that. Actually, because they are not like that they are being made to pay a price for their nationalism, which currently stands as a mixture of Syrianism and Arabism. This is the mood that prevails in Damascus today. This "cold war" with America is not about Rafiq al-Harriri. It is not about Bashar Assad. It is not about supporting or opposing Iraq. It is about the stubborn and arrogant people of Syria.

Syria has rejected every U.S. ‘roadmap’ for the Middle East from Harry Truman to George W. Bush. No country in the Arab world, not even Egypt or Iraq, carries the rejectionist brand like Syria. This is a common denominator that unites all Syrians, government and opposition, men and women, young and old, secular and religious. It is the only thing all Syrians have agreed on since 1948. They may disagree on religious issues, reforms, politics, ideologies, but not on Israel and the U.S. Today, more than 50 years into the Arab-Israeli conflict, Syria is the only country, apart from the Palestinians themselves, which is still overwhelmingly Arab nationalist. This does not apply to Libya, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Sudan or Lebanon. It no longer applies to Jordan, Egypt and Iraq.

Syria is a small country—with a big brand.