UNCERTAIN TIMES IN WEST ASIA AS GOLANI RISES

It's complete chaos in Syria. The end of the Assad dynasty that ruled Syria for five decades came suddenly—out of the blue.

- J OYEETA BASU

The army of Bashar Al Assad—who had been at the helm of Syria for 24 years, taking over from his father Hafez Al Assad in 2000—just melted away as the opposition forces comprising a hotchpotch of rebel fighters, militants and terrorists from Al Qaeda and ISIS just swooped down on capital Damascus, after capturing city after city. At the time of writing, Assad is supposed to have fled to Russia, one of his main backers, the other being Iran.

That neither of these two countries helped Assad when he needed their support is proof of their own weaknesses. Both are reeling under western sanctions. The war in Ukraine is taking a toll on Russia's health and Iran has been a spent force for a long time, even though both countries have great power ambitions. One of the reasons behind the sudden collapse is believed to be the hollowing out of Assad's army in the 13-year-long civil war that has hobbled Syria, killing over 600,000 people, while displacing over half the country's population. As it is, western sanctions have taken a major toll on Syria, with the army impacted heavily as morale went down. Once Russia and Iran decided to pull support, realizing the gravity of the rebel intent, the Syrian government collapsed like a house of cards, and the rebels led by Abu Mohammed al Golani just walked into Damascus in scenes reminiscent of the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021.