Editing Ba'ath Party (section)

====Regionalists versus nationalists====
After the failure of the [[United Arab Republic]] (UAR), a union of Egypt and Syria, the Ba'ath Party was divided into two main factions, the Regionalists ({{langx|ar|Qutriyyun}}) and the Nationalists (pan-Arab) ({{langx|ar|Qawmiyyun}}).{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=36}} When the union with Egypt collapsed, the Ba'ath Party was put in a difficult position, as the party still sought Arab unity but did not oppose the UAR's dissolution and did not want to seek another union with Egypt under [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]]'s rule.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=36}} However, being the unionist party that it was, the party's leaders could not state their position on this issue.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=36}} The end result was that the pro-Arab nationalists within the Ba'ath Party became committed [[Nasserism|Nasserists]], while the more moderate Arab nationalists founded the pro-Nasserite [[Socialist Unionist Party (Syria)|Socialist Unionists]] party.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=36}} A third group, led by people disenchanted with both Nasser and the union period, remained in the Ba'ath Party but stopped believing in the feasibility of pan-Arabism.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=36}} On 21 February 1962, the National Command issued a new policy regarding the pan-Arab project by first mentioning the successes and failures of the UAR, but ending the statement by calling for the reestablishment of the UAR as a decentralized [[Federation|federal union]] with Nasser's Egypt.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=37}} Many rank-and-file members opposed this change in policy, with many members being both disenchanted with pan-Arabism and Aflaq's continued party rule.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=37}}

When the Syrian Regional Branch was reestablished, the majority of its members in the provinces were of communal origins – Druze, Alawi, or Ismaili.{{sfn|Ben-Tzur|1968|p=166}} The provincial party members had not been told of the Syrian Regional Branch's dissolution, which in fact broke the communication line with provincial branches and the National Command.{{sfn|Ben-Tzur|1968|p=166}} While it is true that in 1962 the Regionalists supported the slogan adopted at the 5th National Congress, "the renewal of the union with Egypt while taking note of past mistakes", they treated such a slogan as a propaganda slogan rather than a feasible goal.{{sfn|Ben-Tzur|1968|pp=166–167}}