As leaders fell in the Arab Spring, Bashar al-Assad looked set to follow. The Assads’ roots in Syria’s structures of power run deep. The result is unsurprising given Assad’s iron grip on the country, and strengthens the immovable image he has built over ten years of civil war. Yet in March 2011, after the Arab Spring had ousted three other regional leaders (in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya), the Assad clan’s departure seemed inevitable. Military intervention by Russia, Iran and Hizbullah has certainly helped, but its real strength comes from the foundations laid by Hafez al-Assad and passed on to his son Bashar.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 01, 2021 14:18 UTC