Assad has gone – Syria's challenges haven't

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Lead story

The regime of Syria’s Basha al-Assad is no more. In an astonishing turn of events, opposition forces over the weekend marched into the capital Damascus and sent the now-former president packing. But after 13 years of civil war – and 54 years of brutal Assad family rule – what does the country he leaves behind look like, and what happens next?

Sefa Secen, an expert on Middle East security, paints a complicated picture of post-Assad Syria. The nation is a “de facto partitioned” state, he writes. The various groups that make up the now victorious opposition forces control different areas and have differing interests and competing visions for the future of the country. Reconciling that will be no easy task. The speed at which the opposition was able to take over key cities also raises the prospect of a scenario that many in the West fear: a “catastrophic success” of the main Islamist group in the country, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

“The rapid change of fortunes in Syria’s civil war poses serious questions for those countries that have backed one side or the other in the conflict. For Iran and Russia, the fall of their ally Assad will damage regional aspirations. For the backers of elements of the opposition – notably Turkey but also the U.S., both of which maintain a military presence in Syria – there will be challenges, too,” Secen writes.

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Matt Williams

Senior International Editor

End of a half-century of family rule. A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the Syrian city of Qamishli. Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images

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Assad has gone – Syria's challenges haven't

Politics + Society

In 2024, independent voters grew their share of the vote, split their tickets and expanded their influence

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