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Assadism is aneo-Ba'athist ideology based on the policies of theAssad family, which governedSyria as atotalitarianhereditary dictatorship from 1971 to 2024. This period spanned the successive regimes ofHafez al-Assad and his sonBashar al-Assad. The Assads rose to power as a result of the1970 Syrian coup d'état, leading to the consolidation ofAlawite minority dominance within themilitary andsecurity forces. Their governance was largely characterized bynepotism,sectarianism, and ethnic favoritism.[1] The ideology enshrines the Assad family's leadership role in Syrian politics and presented the Assad regime in a verypersonalist fashion, creating a government based upon and revolving around its leader. Under this system, theSyrian Ba'ath Party portrayed the wisdom of Assad as "beyond the comprehension of the average citizen."[2] Syrian state propaganda cast Assadism as a neo-Ba'athist current that evolvedBa'athist ideology with the needs of the modern era.[3]
The Assad family cultivated extensive patronage networks, securing loyalty while monopolizing vast portions of theSyrian economy and fostering widespread corruption.[4] The Syrian Ba'ath party used its control over Syria's political, social, economic, cultural, educational and religious spheres to enforce its neo-Ba'athist ideology in the wider society and preserve the Assad family's grip on power. Hafez al-Assad's goal upon coming to power was to consolidate thesocialist state with the Ba'ath party as itsvanguard by establishing a "coup-proof" system that eliminated factional rivalries. As soon as he seized power, the armed forces,secret police, security forces, and bureaucracy were purged, subjugating them to party command by installing Alawite elites loyal to Assad.[5][6] To maintain control, Assadism relied on brute force and relentless oppression, exemplified by theHama massacre in 1982 and theseveral sectarian massacres over the course of theSyrian civil war since 2011.[7] Following thefall of the Assad regime in 2024 due to a renewedSyrian opposition offensive amid the civil war, Assadists loyal to the former regime have engaged in aviolent insurgency across Alawite strongholds in western Syria.[8]
Jamal al-Atassi, co-founder ofZaki al-Arsuzi's earlyArab Ba'ath Party and later Syrian dissident, stated that "Assadism is a falsenationalism. It's the domination of a minority, and I'm not talking just of the Alawites, who control the society's nervous system. I include also the army and themukhabarat... And despite itssocialist slogans, the state is run by a class who has made a fortune without contributing—anouvellebourgeoisie parasitaire."[9] The Assad family aligned itself withIran and itsAxis of Resistance for much of its rule, contributing to aninter-Ba'athist rivalry with theSunni-dominatedSaddamistBa'ath Party inIraq.[10]
Prior to Hafez al-Assad's seizure of power in 1970, the neo-Ba'athist movement in Syria had been dominated by strongmanSalah Jadid. Tensions between Jadid and Hafez al-Assad increased following theSix-Day War in 1967. Hafez al-Assad took advantage of his control over the military to dismantle Jadid's support network, before carrying out a coup and imprisoning Jadid and then Syrian presidentNureddin al-Atassi.[11]
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