It took Syrian Islamist militiamen eleven days to end 14 years of civil war, with 24 years of iron-fist rule Bashar al Assad and 50 years of dictatorship of the Assad dynasty.
Eleven days during which … Even the Syrians themselves did not believe it: without any resistance from the state forces, the main cities fell one by one to the rebels. Meanwhile, Bashar al Assad fled with his family to Moscow.
The peaceful transfer of power in Damascus was marked by scenes of joy, of people celebrating, tearing and burning posters of Assad, but also by scenes of fear; citizens crossing a deserted airport; soldiers abandon their posts, leaving their military uniforms, equipment and even tanks scattered in the streets.
Ultimately, a exhausted army of Assad recruits was unwilling to continue fighting and dying for a dictatorship on the verge of falling. Moreover, the offensive occurred at the worst time for the Syrian dictator: his main allies were tied or weakened by other conflicts, the Russians in Ukraine, Iran and Hezbollah with Israel.
Protagonists of the revolution
The protagonists of this lightning operation were part of the group Hayat Tahrir al-Shambetter known by its acronym HTS. This was an insurgent coalition that split from Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, in 2016. Their leader was all Abu Hassein al Sharaabetter known at that time under his nom de guerre: Al Golani. A name that would begin to resonate in every Syrian home, in international newsrooms and in government offices.
Al Sharaa, who established himself as the undisputed leader of the revolution, established his position as president, albeit under the name “interim”, of the Syrian Arab Republic a year later.
Syrian citizens still remember, with tears of emotion, what the end of the Assad dynasty meant for them: “The simple phrase “It is 6:18 a.m. Damascus time and Syria is without Bashar al Assad,” which we heard on December 8 on the radio, became a song for us. the revolution began after more than six years of exile in Türkiye, says this newspaper.
ECONOMIC SANCTIONS
Syria’s economy has been devastated by war and sanctions. GDP has fallen by more than 70% since 2011. Following the arrival of Al Sharaa, the EU and the United States lifted economic sanctions to allow investments in the country.
These 365 days of the “new Syria” can be explained by the figure of Al-Shara through the transition he has made: from former jihadist leader to first-level interlocutor within the international community, even entering the White House just a few months ago and delivering the first speech at the United Nations headquarters by a Syrian leader in almost six decades.
How was the year of Al Sharaa? What changes has a country considered lost undergone?
“Al Sharaa is a movie character. Now he is a politician, but before, he did a lot of things and he himself recognized his jihadist career,” explains Gabriel Garroum, researcher in international relations at Pompeu Fabra University and collaborator at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CEARC).
With deep jihadist roots, Al Sharaa already joined radical groups at the age of 19: before arriving in Syria in 2011 to form Jabhat al-Nusra, he was a member of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
“Although he had very marked ideological solidity under extreme Islam, he was able to read situations very well and demonstrated a great capacity to develop a pragmatic policy,” explains the expert.
Some success and a lot of uncertainty
This year, Al Sharaa appears to have done well on many counts: it ended decades of diplomatic isolation of Syria with astonishing speed. Many of the sanctions that placed Syria under Assad’s dictatorship have been lifted. For example, the American Congress should repeal the most severe sanction in early 2026: the so-called Caesar law, imposed to deter foreign investment.
MILLIONS OF DISPLACED
More than 1.2 million people have returned to Syria since Assad’s fall. However, there are more than 1.7 million internally displaced people, including more than 880,000 people from camps in the north.
The great example of rehabilitation of the figure of the former jihadist was the visit to the White House in November this year. Al Sharaa, now a statesman, shook hands with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. An image that seemed impossible a few years ago, especially after knowing the trajectory of Al Sharaa: imprisoned in an American prison in Iraq, from where, with other jihadists, they created the seed of Daesh (Islamic State) and wanted by North American justice.
“The current scenario is that of a country trying to reconnect after a terrible civil war and 50 years of dictatorship. “Syria is a country that has a significant challenge: territorial adequacy and which is difficult to manage with different insurgent groups,” explains researcher Gabriel Garroum.
THOUSANDS OF MISSING
Over the past 50 years, tens of thousands of people have disappeared in Syria for multiple reasons: kidnappings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary deprivation of liberty, displacement, migration or military operations.
But there is also still large open wounds and challenges: Thousands of missing people remain in mass graves, millions of internally and externally displaced people still cannot return to their hometowns, and episodes of violence against minorities, such as the Alawites (to which the Assads belong), have been a constant this year.
Since late November last year, Al Sharaa itself has issued statements to assure the many religious minorities of Syria that his group had embraced religious pluralism and tolerance.
The economy has not collapsed, but the financial situation of many Syrians has deteriorated since the liberation. Hundreds of thousands of civil servants have been laid off. Subsidies are cut and reconstruction is virtually non-existent.
FREE ELECTIONS
Elections were held in October, but they were not completely democratic. In fact, Syrians were not called to the polls, but only the 7,000 members of a structured electoral college were able to vote.
“Al Sharaa’s intention, as it has said several times, is that it does not want to perpetuate itself and that it will ‘only’ have a role in the transition. But no one can know that. He did the hard thing: made Syria stop being a dynastic country. For the first time, the government had to provide explanations and accountability. The average Syrian appreciates the improvement in his daily life. But a deeper national dialogue about what Sira should look like has not happened. The October elections selected 70% of the representatives,” explains Garroum.
This is another key issue: the celebration of free elections in the country. Many doubts remain over whether he will remain in power or keep his word as interim president. “All that remains is to wait, but for now, this has the approval of the international community,” believes the researcher.
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