Syria’s capital, Damascus, fell to rebel forces over the weekend in a dramatic turn of events that saw President Bashar al-Assad flee the country.
The fall marks the end of over five decades of autocratic rule by the Assad family.
With Syria’s leader now gone, what does this mean, and what comes next?
On Monday afternoon’s episode of The Briefing, we talked to Chair in Global Islamic Politics at Deakin University, Professor Greg Barton, to discuss.
The Syrian rebel offensive is led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Turkish-backed militias known as the Syrian National Army.
HTS, previously linked to Al-Qaeda, is classified as a terrorist organisation by the U.S.
“When Bashar al Assad was made to replace his father, he was only 34 at the time.He sided with the most brutal of the Assad regime generals and carried out or continued crackdowns on dissidents,” Mr Barton said.
The White House confirmed President Joe Biden is closely monitoring the situation, calling the developments “extraordinary.”
“It would also be a good time for the US to say we’re not going to go and do anymore wars, but we will help our nations rebuild themselves, that they don’t have refugees flying out of their countries, but people actually go back and reconstruct,” he said.
“Donald Trump can turn that into a win if he wishes, that would be a very constructive way of approaching it.”
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