Countries are distinguished from each other by characteristics such as language, flag and land, as each country contains a set of features that distinguish its identity and form the bonds that unify its people. “Syria is one of the countries that is distinguished by its ethnic, cultural, religious and civilizational diversity, which has been gathered -on its geographical space and throughout its history-  many civilizations (Such as Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean, and Aramaic in addition to Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen) and other civilizations and races, in addition to a great religious diversity. However,  these affiliations did not have enough opportunity to grow during the last century, starting with independence from the French to the stages of the coups, and then taking The Baath and the Assad family over the Syian regime, which worked on reducing the coexistence between the various components of Syria, which led to the weakness in  national identity concept Syria, and low harmony levels of the various identities. The war in Syria in addition to the loss of unified Syrian national identity  led Syrians to differentiate among themselves and resort to different affiliations, including the sub- national affiliations, regional affiliations or transnational affiliations. This was reinforced by projects that expanded Syria’s geographical, in addition to many countries intervention which increased the divisions severity, so it was necessary to work on understanding the Syrian identity with its various complex components, and it was important to work on understanding the affiliations, feelings, values ​​and principles that people resort to in their definition of their personal and national identity.

John Joseph says in his book Language and Identity: “It is appropriate to recall the idea that group identities, especially national and ethnic identities, are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they perform a positive role by giving people a sense of who they are, and a sense of belonging to a group, and in case of the absence of this role, one can have a sense of isolation that may have disastrous consequences. On the other hand this affiliation is always built through the expressing difference from others, and this exclusion can easily turn into a desire for racial discrimination and hatred. It is at least crucial for us to understand these destructive nature aspects of identity in the same way that we understand its positive aspects, because we cannot contribute to important acts of struggle against hatred, ethnicity, nationalism, prejudice and injustice, but without sacrificing at the same time those useful elements of identity that are essential to lives prosperity of individuals and societies.

Being aware of these factors that may cause society disintegration is extremely important, as ignoring this cultural and psychological diversity due to political practices that do not achieve justice for all people of the same nation may lead to political dimension tyranny. Feeling that they are " Sub-countries," or citizens who are deprived of power, sense of glory, or state affiliation, some groups may form their unions or organizations to fight for their own interests. The question is what should be done to treat their grievances or protect them from the onslaught of injustice. Such groups may choose the path to leave their country and seek refuge in a friendly country, as did the Kazakh Germans who moved to Germany after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. They may also fight for "self-government", or maybe feel content with having their own institutions to govern at the local and regional levels, such in the case of Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland. It is also possible for these groups to integrate and merge with the majority on better terms, as we may see in the case of the French people in the British-dominated provinces in Canada. The last option is for these groups to accept permanent marginalization without any reaction, like the Persians in India. While Maalouf attributes the identity struggle to a political and societal dimension, or as he called it Tribal at the same time, ““In a country like Lebanon, the prominent religious sects have always fought and quarreled in order to preserve their positions and their share of power.” He stated that a person’s identity is not a series of independent affiliations, and it is not a “patch” but a drawing on a Taut fabric, and it is enough for a single affiliation to be violated in order for a person to act angry with his whole being.

This study aims to build a better perception of national identity concept in the Syrian context from Syrians viewpoint and to identify the factors that affect the Syrians national identity. The research seeks to build a broader understanding of the following four matters:

1) identity meaning (identity components) affiliations, values, feelings.

2) Connection to identity (past, present, future).

3) Identity building and disintegration (loss, disintegration, and reinforcement factors).

4) Identity, conflict and solidarity (what motivate you to intervene in resolving a conflict, and what we use in resolving the conflict).

 To achieve the research aim, the work team collected data related to patriotic identity dimensions, including language, religion, local culture and history of Syria. This data will be used to build the patriotic identity guide in the research areas, and to determine the factors affecting this indicator.

Given that the patriotic identity expresses an individual's belonging to a nation or community, the results of this study are extremely important in determining how Syrians define their identity, and how they understand the elements that constitute the patriotic identity of Syrians.