The rapid shifts unfolding in the Euphrates region offer a textbook illustration of what political-science literature terms the “end of functional roles” for non-state actors. After years of military and political expansion, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have arrived at a moment of structural unravelling and dissolution into the institutions …

In Syrian political discourse since 2012, the concepts of federalism and political decentralization have been presented as technical solutions to a chronic governance crisis, or as “rational” exits for managing diversity and containing collapse. However, this framing, despite its superficial appeal, ignores the true context from which these projects emerged. …

With the Autonomous Administration retreating back into the confines of Hasakah province, the project is reverting to its earliest form: a structure rooted in the Kurdish street. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have all but collapsed, leaving the People’s Protection Units (YPG) to stand alone. Amid widespread fear of massacres—after …