Bashar al-Assad's response to the Arab Spring played a central role in shaping his regime’s fate and the ongoing conflict in Syria
Over the span of the last 11 days, the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria crumbled as rebel forces that had been waiting on the edges of his zone of control swooped in on major cities like Aleppo, Homs and Damascus. On December 8, Assad fled the country that his family had controlled for over 50 years and sought refuge in Russia.
Since March 2011, Assad had been facing a civil war triggered by the democratic protests of the Arab Spring. Fundamentalists forces that sprung from the ISIS and al-Qaeda, and backed by Turkey, have been attempting to overthrow Assad, and he met them with military force supported by Iran and Russia.
According to Associated Press, several international rights groups and prosecutors allege widespread use of torture and extrajudicial killings in Syria's government-run detention centres. The war has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country's pre-war population of 23 million.
Assad had been maintaining control over most of the country, while opposition groups held the northwest and the Kurds controlled the northeast.
Despite ongoing Western sanctions, neighbouring countries accepted Assad's rule. The Arab League reinstated Syria's membership, and in May, Saudi Arabia appointed its first ambassador to Syria since severing ties 12 years ago.
However, the geopolitical tide turned quickly when opposition groups in northwest Syria launched a surprise offensive in late November.
Government forces quickly collapsed while Assad's allies, preoccupied by other conflicts — Russia in Ukraine and Iran with Israel — appeared reluctant to intervene.
Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad, served as the president of Syria from 1971 to 2000 with an iron fist. An air force officer, he came to power through a coup and during the 30 years of his rule, set up a Soviet-style centralized economy and was strongly against any form of dissent displayed by Syrians.
While from the minority Alawite sect, he pursued a secular ideology that sought to bury sectarian differences under Arab nationalism and the image of heroic resistance to Israel. He formed an alliance with the Shiite clerical leadership in Iran, sealed Syrian domination over Lebanon and set up a network of Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups.
Hafez al-Assad nurtured his eldest son Basil, as his successor, but in 1994, Basil was killed in a car crash in Damascus.
Soon after Basil's death, Bashar was brought home from his ophthalmology practice in London and put through military training and elevated to the rank of colonel to establish his credentials so he could one day rule.
When Hafez Assad died in 2000, parliament quickly lowered the presidential age requirement from 40 to 34. Bashar's elevation was sealed by a nationwide referendum, in which he was the only candidate.
Bashar initially gave an impression of ruling the country with a fresh perspective, evolved from his father. He lived in an apartment with his family in the upscale Abu Rummaneh district of Damascus, as opposed to a palatial mansion like other Arab leaders.
Initially upon coming to office, Assad freed political prisoners and allowed more open discourse. In the “Damascus Spring,” salons for intellectuals emerged where Syrians could discuss art, culture and politics to a degree impossible under his father.
But after 1,000 intellectuals signed a public petition calling for multiparty democracy and greater freedoms in 2001, and others tried to form a political party, the salons were snuffed out by the feared secret police, who jailed dozens of activists, reported AP.
The Arab Spring, a series of uprisings and protests that spread across the Arab world starting in late 2010, had major impact on many countries, including Syria. Triggered by widespread frustration over economic hardship, political repression and corruption, these protests led to significant changes in the region.
While many Arab nations saw their rulers toppled, the situation in Syria dragged over the years as a civil war. Bashar al-Assad's response to the Arab Spring played a central role in shaping his regime’s fate and the ongoing conflict in Syria.
In early 2011, Syrians took to the streets demanding political reform, greater freedoms, and an end to Assad's 'autocratic' rule. The Syrian population was facing economic challenges, including rising unemployment, corruption and according to reports, Assad’s economic reforms had only benefited the elites. These grievances were compounded by political repression as Assad, like his father before him, maintained strict control over the country through a tightly-knit regime, relying heavily on his Alawite sect and close family members to hold power.
Security forces were deployed to violently suppress the protests, leading to widespread human rights abuses. The unrest soon escalated into a civil war, drawing in both regional and international actors. As the fighting intensified, millions of Syrians were displaced, fleeing to neighboring countries like Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon, or further afield to Europe.
Internationally, Syria’s isolation deepened despite the president receiving support from Iran, Russia and Hezbollah, which helped him sustain the military control.
Despite the initial threat to his regime, Assad managed to remain in power, largely due to his reliance on violent repression, strategic alliances, and support from minority communities.
But the offensive under the name of Operation Deterrence of Aggression, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by allied Turkish-backed factions attacked the Syrian military on November 27 and face only a little resistance from the government and eventually leading to the fall of Assad on December 8.