Ten months since the beginning of the confrontation between parts of the Syrian population and the security forces, thousands have been killed and tens of thousands injured, detained or displaced. The most decisive action has come from the Arab League, whose attempts to mediate are, however, bound to be unsuccessful. The international community has not yet agreed on anything other than condemnations of the violence and Syria’s neighbours maintain ambiguous positions or are worried about the destabilising impact on their own countries. Meanwhile, the majority of the Syrian opposition still exercises non-violent forms of resistance (with the exception of some dissident groups). The author of this Policy Brief argues that the Syrian opposition needs to organise and develop its own political project for the country, which should be based on citizenship rather than division along religious or ethnic lines.