Part 3/14:
To understand the deep roots of Barism, we trace back to the aftermath of World War I and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. The partitioning of Arab lands by Western powers, particularly France and Britain—through agreements like the Sykes-Picot—divided territories such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine into mandates. Growing up under French colonial rule, Arab intellectuals like Michael Afflak and Salah Alin Al-Betar, both Damascus natives born around 1910, witnessed firsthand the colonial imposition on their homeland.