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Decree Creates University
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 147 of 2026 ordering the establishment of a specialized educational and training university in military sciences named the National University of Defense Sciences, based in Damascus.
“The Syrian Ministry of Defense launched yesterday, on Monday, the 'National University of Defense Sciences' during a press conference held in Damascus, revealing its academic structure and its regulatory requirements”
The decree says the university will have legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy, and it allows faculties, institutes, and centers affiliated with it to be established in Damascus and other Syrian provinces.
SANA said the university includes the Higher Military Academy, which oversees the National Defense College, the War College, and the Command and Staff College, and it also includes the Air War College, the Naval War College, the Army War College, the College of Humanities and Administrative Sciences, the Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, and Military Technical Institutes.
The announcement was framed as part of restructuring military and security institutions, with the Syrian government seeking to reorganize the armed forces and unify military formations within the Ministry of Defense alongside developing the military education and training system.
On June 24, the Syrian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Marwan Halabi said he discussed with a delegation from the Ministry of Defense led by Major General Selim Idris ways to strengthen institutional cooperation in training, qualification, and military education.
Curriculum and Integration
Middle-east-online described the decree as a step reflecting an official orientation to rebuild the Syrian military on academic and professional foundations after months of changes following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024.
It said the greatest challenge facing the new Syrian leadership remains restructuring the army and integrating multiple armed formations, including factions with hardline Islamic backgrounds that fought alongside Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.
SANA said Lieutenant General Salim Idris explained the decree aims to create a scientific and military center that will feed the armed forces with engineer-officers and university graduates, and it will graduate officers from technical institutes to serve weapons and munitions.
The same SANA account stressed that the Syrian army the leadership is building is “an army with a vision that relies primarily on defending the homeland and sacrificing for it,” and it emphasized safeguarding territorial integrity, unity, stability, and independence.
The Al-Jazeera Net account added that Lieutenant General Engineer سليم إدريس said “modern warfare has become fundamentally dependent on science, technology and techniques,” linking the university’s purpose to engineer officers and domestic military production.
What Comes Next
The TRT عربي report said the decree did not specify details about when the university would begin operations or the mechanism for admission, even as it outlined the university’s structure and the legal and financial independence granted by Decree No. 147 of 2026.
“Damascus – President Ahmad al-Shara' issued a decree to establish the National University of Defense Sciences in Damascus, in a move reflecting an official orientation to rebuild the Syrian military on academic and professional foundations, after months of changes that followed the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024”
Al-Jazeera Net said admission and registration would be available as soon as the results of this year’s scientific branch secondary certificate (baccalaureate) are released, in coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education.
It also reported that the student will be required to sign an enlistment contract for military service for several years, to be determined by the internal system to be issued within 90 days, and that during years of study the student will receive a monthly salary and on-campus housing plus full health insurance and medical care.
SANA said Dr. Mohammed Wael Al-Khaled explained that engineering degrees conferred by the university will be recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education, with strong coordination to ensure recognition within the Syrian Arab Republic.
The Le Temps article, in a separate context, argued that these kinds of actions outside UN procedures violate the prohibition on the threat or use of force anchored in Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, writing that “Such arguments had, moreover, been firmly rejected by France during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.”
