Syrian Arab Republic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963–2024 | |||||||||
%2c_Flag_of_Syria_(1980%25E2%2580%25932024).svg) Flag (1980–2024) .svg) Coat of arms (1980–2024) | |||||||||
| Motto: وَحْدَةٌ، حُرِّيَّةٌ، اِشْتِرَاكِيَّةٌ Waḥda, Ḥurriyya, Ishtirākiyya "Unity, Freedom, Socialism" | |||||||||
| Anthem: حُمَاةَ الدَّيَّارِ Ḥumāt ad-Diyār "Guardians of the Homeland" | |||||||||
_disputed_(Turkey_claim).svg) Syria proper shown in dark green; Syria's territorial claims over the most of Turkey'sHatay Province and the Israeli-occupiedGolan Heights shown in light greenShow globe _-_SYR_-_UNOCHA.svg) Show map of Syria | |||||||||
| Capital and largest city | Damascus 33°30′N36°18′E / 33.500°N 36.300°E /33.500; 36.300 | ||||||||
| Official languages | Arabic[1] | ||||||||
| Ethnic groups | 80–90%Arabs 9–10%Kurds 1–10%others | ||||||||
| Religion |
| ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Syrian | ||||||||
| Government | Unitaryneo-Ba'athistone-party[7]presidential republic[8]
| ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1963 (first) | Lu'ay al-Atassi | ||||||||
• 1963–1966 | Amin al-Hafiz | ||||||||
• 1966–1970 | Nureddin al-Atassi | ||||||||
• 1970–1971 | Ahmad al-Khatib (acting) | ||||||||
• 1971–2000 | Hafez al-Assad | ||||||||
• 2000 | Abdul Halim Khaddam (acting) | ||||||||
• 2000–2024 (last) | Bashar al-Assad | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1963 (first) | Khalid al-Azm | ||||||||
• 2024 (last) | Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali | ||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||
• 1963–1964 (first) | Muhammad Umran | ||||||||
• 2006–2024 (last) | Najah al-Attar | ||||||||
• 2024 (last) | Faisal Mekdad | ||||||||
| Legislature | People's Assembly | ||||||||
| Historical era | |||||||||
| 8 March 1963 | |||||||||
| 21–23 February 1966 | |||||||||
| 5–10 June 1967 | |||||||||
| 13–16 November 1970 | |||||||||
| 6–25 October 1973 | |||||||||
• Occupation of Lebanon began | 1 June 1976 | ||||||||
| 1976–1982 | |||||||||
| 2000–2001 | |||||||||
| 30 April 2005 | |||||||||
• Civil war began | 15 March 2011 | ||||||||
| 26 February 2012 | |||||||||
| 8 December 2024 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 185,180[12] km2 (71,500 sq mi) (87th) | ||||||||
• Water (%) | 1.1 | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 2024 estimate | 25,000,753[13] | ||||||||
• Density | 118.3/km2 (306.4/sq mi) | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2015 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $50.28 billion[14] | ||||||||
• Per capita | $2,900[14] | ||||||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $11.08 billion[14] | ||||||||
• Per capita | $533 | ||||||||
| Gini (2022) | 26.6[15] low inequality | ||||||||
| HDI (2022) | 0.557[16] medium | ||||||||
| Currency | Syrian pound (SYP) | ||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+3 (Arabia Standard Time) | ||||||||
| Calling code | +963 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | SY | ||||||||
| Internet TLD | .sy سوريا. | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Ba'athist Syria, officially theSyrian Arab Republic (SAR),[a] was theSyrian state between 1963 and 2024 under theone-party rule of theSyrian regional branch of theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party. From 1971 until itscollapse, it was ruled by theAssad family, and was therefore commonly referred to as theAssad regime.
The regime emerged in the wake of the1963 Syrian coup d'état and was led byAlawiteneo-Ba'athist military officers. In 1970, presidentNureddin al-Atassi and de facto leaderSalah Jadid were overthrown byHafez al-Assad in theCorrective Revolution. The next year, Assad became president aftersham elections. AnIslamist uprising against Assad's rule resulted in the regime committing the1981 and1982 Hama massacres. The regime was considered one of the most repressive regimes in modern times,ultimately reaching totalitarian levels,[17] and was consistently ranked as one of the 'worst of the worst' withinFreedom House indexes.[18]
Hafez al-Assaddied in 2000 and was succeeded by his sonBashar al-Assad, who maintained a similar grip.Major protests against Ba'athist rule in 2011 during theArab Spring led to theSyrian civil war betweenopposition forces, government, and in following yearsIslamists such asISIS which weakened the Assad regime's territorial control. However, the Ba'athist government maintained presence and a hold over large areas, also being able to regain further ground in later years with the support ofRussia,Iran andHezbollah. In December 2024,a series of surprise offensives by various rebel factions culminated inthe regime's collapse.
After the fall ofBa'athist Iraq, Syria was the only country governed byneo-Ba'athists. It had a comprehensivecult of personality around theAssad family, and attracted widespread condemnation for its severe domestic repression andwar crimes. Prior to the fall of Assad, Syria was ranked fourth-worst in the 2024Fragile States Index, and it was one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.Freedom of the press was extremely limited, and the country was ranked second-worst in the 2024World Press Freedom Index. It was the most corrupt country in theMENA region and was ranked the second-worst globally on the 2023Corruption Perceptions Index. Syria had also become the epicentre of an Assad-sponsoredCaptagon industry, exporting billions of dollars worth of the illicit drug annually, making it one of the largestnarco-states in the world.
After the1961 coup that terminated thepolitical union between Egypt and Syria, the instability which followed eventually culminated in the8 March 1963 Ba'athist coup. The takeover was engineered by members of theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party, led byMichel Aflaq andSalah al-Din al-Bitar. The new Syrian cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members.[19][20]
After the 1963 seizure of power by itsMilitary Committee, theBa'ath party ruled Syria as a dictatorship which has been described astotalitarian. Ba'athists took control over country's politics, education, culture, religion and surveilled all aspects of civil society through its powerfulMukhabarat (secret police).TheSyrian Arab Armed forces and secret police were integrated with the Ba'ath party apparatus; after the purging of traditional civilian and military elites by the new regime.[21]
The 1963 Ba'athist coup marked a "radical break" inmodern Syrian history, after which Ba'ath party monopolised power in the country to establish aone-party state and shaped a new socio-political order by enforcing itsstate ideology.[22] Soon after seizing power, the neo-Ba'athist military officers began initiating purges across Syria as part of the imposition of their ideological programme. Politicians of theSecond Syrian Republic who had supported the separation of Syria fromUnited Arab Republic (UAR) were purged and liquidated by the Ba'athists. This was in addition to purging of the Syrian military and its subordination to the Ba'ath party. Politicians, military officers and civilians who supported Syria's secession from UAR were also stripped of their social and legal rights by the Ba'athist-controlledNational Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC); thereby enabling the Ba'athist regime to dismantle the entire political class of the Second Syrian Republic and eliminate its institutions.[23]
Following the seizure of power in 1963 by the neo-Ba'athist military committee, the Syrian regional branch of the Ba'ath party experienced severe factionalism and splintering, leading to a succession of governments and new constitutions.[24] The neo-Ba'athist military officers, through their increased political and military influence, began initiating purges across bureaucratic structures of the Syrian state and rapidly monopolized control over various organs of the Syrian Ba'ath party. Military Ba'athists also took control of theNCRC, which exercised thede-facto power in the new Ba'athist regime. Civilian wing of the Ba'ath party, consisting of classical Ba'athists led byAflaq andBitar, had little influence over the ideological direction of the Syrian regional branch. During the sixth national congress of the Ba'ath party, officers of the Ba'athist military committee, in collaboration with radical leftists, formally gained ideological and political control of the Syrian regional branch of the Ba'ath party. The ideological programme and political platform adopted by the Syrian Ba'ath party during the 6th National Congress of the Ba'ath party in September 1963 became the official doctrine of the neo-Ba'ath and the state ideology of Ba'athist Syria. Subsequently, the Ba'athist regime began implementing its social, economic and political policies across Syria, which imposed the neo-Ba'athist agenda.[25][26][27]
The far-leftneo-Ba'athist tendency gained control of the Syrian regional branch at the Ba'ath party's 6th National Congress of 1963, where hardliners from the dominant Syrian and Iraqi regional parties joined forces to impose a radical leftist line, which advocated the imposition of "socialist planning",[28] "collective farms run by peasants", "workers' democratic control of the means of production", a party based on workers and peasants, and other demands reflecting emulation ofSoviet-style socialism.[29] In a coded attack onMichel Aflaq, the congress also condemned "ideological notability", criticizing his middle-class background, within the party.[28] Aflaq, angry at this transformation of his party, retained a nominal leadership role, but theNational Command as a whole came under the control of the radicals.[30]
The pro-Marxist resolutions and declarations, such as the espousal of "class struggle" and "scientific socialism", adopted by the Ba'ath party during its 6th national congress set the ideological foundation of neo-Ba'athism. Between 1963 and 1966, neo-Ba'athists exercised thede-facto political power in Ba'athist Syria and were able to steer their ideological goals through the 1963 provisional Ba'athist constitution and its 1964 amendment. They also carried out purges within theSyrian Arab Armed Forces, as part of their efforts to subordinate the civilian old guard of theNational Command of the Ba'ath Party and create an "ideological army" that was loyal to neo-Ba'athist officers. In foreign policy, neo-Ba'athists favoured theSocialist Bloc and were proponents of establishing a close alliance with theSoviet Union. TheMaoist military concept of "people's war of liberation" played a central role in neo-Ba'athist ideology, and this was reflected in Ba'athist Syria's endorsement of socialist and left-wingPalestinian fedayeen groups in their guerrilla war against Israelis. In the economic sphere, neo-Ba'athists favoured the establishment of a socialistcommand economic system; and advocated the nationalization of private industries and radical land confiscation policies.[25]
Thefirst significant clash between the new Ba'athist regime and the outlawedMuslim Brotherhood took place in the city ofHama in April 1964. Insurgents affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood set up roadblocks, stockpiled food and weapons, and attacked wine shops. The rebels used the local Sultan Mosque as a headquarter and sanctuary, where the imam Shaykh Mahmud al-Hamid encouraged the rebellion. Ismaili militiaman affiliated with the regime, Munzir al-Shimali, was killed and mutilated, while "every vestige" of the Ba'ath Party in Hama was attacked. The government responded by sending tanks and reinforcements to attack the rebels, forcing them to withdraw into the Sultan Mosque after fighting for two days. The mosque was subsequently bombarded and the uprising was suppressed.[31][32][33]
On 23 February 1966, theneo-Ba'athist Military Committee carried out anintra-party rebellion against the Ba'athist Old Guard (Aflaq andBitar), imprisoned PresidentAmin al-Hafiz and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government on 1 March.[20] AlthoughNureddin al-Atassi became the formal head of state,Salah Jadid was Syria's effective ruler from 1966 until November 1970,[34] when he was deposed byHafez al-Assad, who at the time was Minister of Defense.[35]
1966 coup marked the total ideological transformation of the Ba'ath party's Syrian regional branch into amilitarist "neo-Ba'athist" organization which became independent of theNational Command of the originalBa'ath party.[36] The regime that came to power in 1966 was the most radical in Syrian history. Jadid's rule was characterized by an even more radicalsocialist transformation of the entire state, an aggressive imposition of militaryLeninism and brutal repression by theMukhabarat secret services inside the country. Outside the country, Jadid's Syria aligned itself with theSoviet bloc and pursued hardline policies towards Israel and "reactionary"Arab states (especiallySaudi Arabia). Jadid promoted theMaoist concept of a "People's war" against theZionists, supporting thePalestinian fedayeen, giving them greater autonomy and allowing them to launch attacks onIsrael from Syrian territory. The coup led to the schism within the originalpan-Arab Ba'ath Party: oneIraqi-led ba'ath movement (ruled Iraq from 1968 to 2003) and oneSyrian-led ba'ath movement was established. In the first half of 1967, a low-key state of war existed between Syria and Israel. Conflict over Israeli cultivation of land in theDemilitarized Zone led to7 April pre-war aerial clashes between Israel and Syria.[37] When theSix-Day War broke out between Egypt and Israel, Syria joined the war and attacked Israel as well. In the final days of the war, Israel turned its attention to Syria, capturing two-thirds of theGolan Heights in under 48 hours.[38] The defeat caused a split between Jadid and Assad over what steps to take next.[39] Disagreement developed between Jadid, who controlled the party apparatus, and Assad, who controlled the military. The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led byYasser Arafat during the "Black September" (also known as the Jordan Civil War of 1970) hostilities with Jordan reflected this disagreement.[40]
On 20 September 1970, Syria under presidentNureddin al-Atassi and strongmanSalah Jadidinvaded Jordan in support ofPalestinian fedayeen forces of thePalestine Liberation Organization, as part ofBlack September. Syria committed 16,000 troops and more than 170T-55 tanks to invade Jordan. By 22 September, however, the Syrian invasion attempt had been largely defeated. As Syrian forces attempted to advance towardIrbid, approximately 50 of 200 Syrian tanks became inoperable. Syrian forces withdrew from Jordan on 23 September after sustaining losses of 62 tanks, 58 other armoured vehicles and 1,500 casualties, mainly due to the actions ofJordanian Air Forces (Syrian Air Forces did not take part in the battles).[41] Jordan lost around 75–90 tanks, an armored car, and had around 112 casualties.[42][43]
%2c_the_new_president_of_Syria_in_November_1970.png)
The power struggle culminated in the November 1970 SyrianCorrective movement, a bloodless military coup that removed Jadid and installedHafez al-Assad as the strongman of the government.[35] General Hafez al-Assad transformed aneo-Ba'athist party state into a dictatorship frequently described astotalitarian, marked by his pervasive grip on the party,armed forces,secret police, media, education sector, religious and cultural spheres,urban planning, economic activity, and all aspects of civil society.[44] Embedding a system based on sectarian patronage, Hafez assignedAlawite loyalists to key posts in themilitary forces,bureaucracy,intelligence and the ruling elite;[44][45] establishing an Alawite minority rule to consolidate power within his family.[45][44] Acult of personality revolving around Hafez and his family became a core tenet ofAssadist ideology,[45] which espoused thatAssad dynasty was destined to rule perennially.[44]
When Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1971 with theCorrective Movement, the army began to modernize and change. In the first 10 years of Assad's rule, the army increased by 162%, and by 264% by 2000. At one point, 70% of the country's budget went only to the army. On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt initiated theYom Kippur War against Israel. TheIsrael Defense Forces reversed the initial Syrian gains and pushed deeper into Syrian territory.[46] The village ofQuneitra was largely destroyed by the Israeli army. In the late 1970s, anIslamist uprising by theMuslim Brotherhood was aimed against the government. Islamists attacked civilians and off-duty military personnel, leading security forces to also kill civilians in retaliatory strikes. The uprising had reached its climax in the 1982Hama massacre,[47] when more than 40,000 people were killed bySyrian military troops and Ba'athist paramilitaries.[48][49] It has been described as the "single deadliest act" of violence perpetrated by any state upon its own population inmodern Arab history.[48][49] After the uprising the government resumed its version of militaristic Leninism, reverting the liberalization introduced when Assad came to power.[50]
Syria was invited into Lebanon by its president,Suleiman Frangieh, in 1976, to intervene on the side of the Lebanese government againstPalestine Liberation Organization guerilla fighters and Lebanese Maronite forces amid theLebanese Civil War. TheArab Deterrent Force originally consisted of a Syrian core, up to 25,000 troops, with participation by some otherArab League states totaling only around 5,000 troops.[51][52][53] In late 1978, after the Arab League had extended the mandate of the Arab Deterrent Force, theSudanese, theSaudis and theUnited Arab Emirates announced intentions to withdraw troops from Lebanon, extending their stay into the early months of 1979 at the Lebanese government's request.[54] The Libyan troops were essentially abandoned and had to find their own way home, and the ADF thereby became a purely Syrian force, although it did include thePalestine Liberation Army.[55] A year afterIsrael invaded and occupiedSouthern Lebanon during the1982 Lebanon War, the Lebanese government failed to extend the ADF's mandate, thereby effectively ending its existence, although not the Syrian or Israeli military presence in Lebanon.[56] Eventually the Syrian presence became known as theSyrian occupation of Lebanon.
Syrian forces lingered in Lebanon throughout the civil war in Lebanon, eventually bringing most of the nation under Syrian control as part of a power struggle with Israel, which hadoccupied areas of southern Lebanon in 1978. In 1985, Israel began to withdraw from Lebanon, as a result of domestic opposition in Israel and international pressure.[57] In the aftermath of this withdrawal, theWar of the Camps broke out, with Syria fighting their former Palestinian allies. TheSyrian occupation of Lebanon continued until 2005.[58]
In a major shift in relations with both otherArab states and the Western world, Syria participated in the United States-ledGulf War againstSaddam Hussein. The country participated in the multilateralMadrid Conference of 1991, and during the 1990s engaged in negotiations with Israel along withPalestine andJordan. These negotiations failed, and there have been no further direct Syrian-Israeli talks since President Hafez al-Assad's meeting with then PresidentBill Clinton inGeneva in 2000.[59]
Hafez al-Assaddied on 10 June 2000. His son,Bashar al-Assad, was elected president inan election in which he ran unopposed.[19] His election saw the birth of theDamascus Spring and hopes of reform, but by autumn 2001, the authorities had suppressed the movement, imprisoning some of its leading intellectuals.[60] Instead, reforms have been limited to some market reforms.[45][61][62] On 5 October 2003, Israelbombed a site near Damascus, claiming it was a terrorist training facility for members ofIslamic Jihad.[63] In March 2004,Syrian Kurds and Arabsclashed in the northeastern city ofal-Qamishli. Signs of rioting were seen in the cities of Qamishli andHasakeh.[64] In 2005, theassassination of former Lebanese prime ministerRafic Hariri led to international condemnation and triggered a popularIntifada inLebanon, known as "the Cedar Revolution", which forced Syria to withdraw its 20,000 soldiers in Lebanon and end its 29-year-longmilitary occupation of Lebanon.[65][66][58] On 6 September 2007, foreign jet fighters, suspected as Israeli, reportedly carried outOperation Orchard against a suspectednuclear reactor under construction byNorth Korean technicians.[67]
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TheSyrian revolution began in 2011 as a part of the widerArab Spring, a wave of upheaval throughout theArab World. Public demonstrations across Syria began on 26 January 2011 and developed into a nationwide uprising. Protesters demanded the resignation of PresidentBashar al-Assad, the overthrow of his government, and an end to nearly five decades ofBa'ath Party rule. Since spring 2011, theSyrian government deployed theSyrian Army to quell the uprising, and several cities were besieged,[68][69] though the unrest continued. According to some witnesses, soldiers, who refused to open fire on civilians, were summarily executed by the Syrian Army.[70] The Syrian government denied reports of defections, and blamed armed gangs for causing trouble.[71] Since early autumn 2011, civilians and army defectors began forming fighting units, which began an insurgency campaign against the Syrian Army. The insurgents unified under the banner of theFree Syrian Army and fought in an increasingly organized fashion; however, the civilian component of the armed opposition lacked an organized leadership.[72]
The uprising has sectarian undertones, though neither faction in the conflict described sectarianism as playing a major role. The opposition was dominated bySunni Muslims, whereas the leading government figures wereAlawites,[72] affiliated with Shia Islam. As a result, the opposition was supported by Sunni Muslim states, whereas the government was publicly supported by the Shia-dominatedIran and the LebaneseHezbollah. According to various sources, including theUnited Nations, up to 13,470–19,220 people were killed, of which about half were civilians, but also including 6,035–6,570 armed combatants from both sides[73][74][75][76] and up to 1,400 opposition protesters.[77] Many more were injured, and tens of thousands of protesters were imprisoned. According to the government, between March 2011 and May 2012, 9,815–10,146 people, including 3,430 members of the security forces, 2,805–3,140 insurgents and up to 3,600 civilians, were killed in fighting with what they characterized as "armed terrorist groups."[78] To escape the violence, tens of thousands ofSyrian refugees fled the country to neighboringJordan,Iraq and[79]Lebanon, as well toTurkey.[80] The total official UN numbers of Syrian refugees reached 42,000 at the time,[81] while unofficial estimates stood at as many as 130,000.
UNICEF reported that over 500 children were killed in the 11 months up to February 2012.[82][83] Another 400 children were reportedly arrested and tortured in Syrian prisons.[84][85] Additionally, over 600 detainees and political prisoners died under torture.[86]Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the government andShabiha, an armed militia supporting the government, of using civilians ashuman shields when they advanced on opposition held-areas.[87] Anti-government rebels were also accused of human rights abuses, including torture, kidnapping, unlawful detention and execution of civilians, Shabiha and soldiers.[72] HRW also expressed concern at the kidnapping of Iranian nationals.[88] The UN Commission of Inquiry documented abuses of this nature in its February 2012 report, which also included documentation indicating rebel forces were responsible for thedisplacement of civilians.[89]
TheArab League, theUnited States, theEuropean Union states, theGulf Cooperation Council states, and several countries across the world condemned the Assad regime's perpetration of violence against the protesters.[72] China and Russia avoided condemning the regime or applying sanctions, asserting that such methods could escalate into foreign intervention. On the other hand, military intervention was ruled out by most countries that condemned the Assad regime.[90][91][92] The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over the government's response to the crisis,[93] but sent anobserver mission in December 2011, as part of itsproposal for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.[92] The Arab League andUnited Nations made attempts to resolve the Syrian crisis and appointedKofi Annan as their special envoy to Syria.[72] On 16 March, Annan submitted asix-point peace plan to theUN Security Council.[94] On 24 March 2012, Annan flew toMoscow in an effort to secure Russian support for his plan.[95]
Thecivil war resulted in more than 600,000 deaths,[96] with pro-Assad forces causing more than 90% of thetotal civilian casualties.[b] The war led to amassive refugee crisis, with an estimated 7.6 millioninternally displaced people (July 2015UNHCR figure) and over 5 millionrefugees (July 2017 registered byUNHCR).[105] The war has also worsened economic conditions, with more than 90% of the population living inpoverty and 80% facingfood insecurity.[c]
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From 2020, the conflict settled into a frozen state.[110] Although roughly 30% of the country was controlled by opposition forces, heavy fighting had largely ceased and there was a growing regional trend toward normalizing relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad.[110]
During this period, Ba'athist Syria continued to be one of the most dangerous places for journalists,[111][112] and was ranked 8th last on the 2024Global Peace Index and 4th worst in the 2024Fragile States Index.[113] Freedom of press remained non-existent, and the Assad regime was ranked 2nd worst in the 2024World Press Freedom Index.[114][115] Ranked second to last globally on the 2023Corruption Perceptions Index,[116] Assad's regime was also the most corrupt in theMiddle East.[117][118] Ba'athist Syria also became the epicentre of a state-sponsoredillicit drug cartel, the largest in the world, which incorporated a multi-billion dollarcaptagon industry.[119][120][121][122]
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On 27 November 2024, violence flared up once again. Rebel factions, led by the Islamist group HayatTahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backedSyrian National Army (SNA), hadtaken control of Aleppo, prompting a retaliatory airstrike campaign by Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad, supported by Russia. The strikes, which targeted population centers and several hospitals inrebel-held city ofIdlib, resulted in at least 25 deaths, according to theWhite Helmets rescue group. The NATO countries issued a joint statement calling for the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure to prevent further displacement and ensure humanitarian access. They stressed the urgent need for a Syrian-led political solution, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which advocates for dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition forces. Therebel offensive, which had begun on 27 November 2024, continued itsadvance into Hama Province following their capture of Aleppo.[123][124][125]
On 29 November, rebels affiliated to theSouthern Front abandoned their reconciliation efforts with the Syrian government and launched anoffensive in the South, in the hope of implementing apincer movement against Damascus.[126][127]
On 4 December 2024, fierce clashes erupted in Hama province as the Syrian army engaged Islamist-led insurgents in a bid to halt their advance on the key city of Hama. Government forces claimed to have launched a counteroffensive with air support, pushing back rebel factions, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), around six miles from the city. However, despite reinforcements, the rebels captured the city on 5 December.[128] The fighting led to widespread displacement, with nearly 50,000 people fleeing the area and over 600 casualties reported, including 104 civilians.[129]
In the evening of 6 December 2024,Southern Front forces captured the regional capital ofSuwayda, in southern Syria, following the pro-government forces' withdrawal from the city.[130][131] Concurrently, the Kurdish-ledSyrian Democratic Forcescaptured the provincial capital ofDeir ez-Zor from pro-government forces, which also left the town ofPalmyra in central Homs Governorate.[132][133] By midnight, opposition forces in the southernDaraa Governorate captured its capitalDaraa, as well as 90% of the province, as pro-government forces withdrew towards the capital Damascus.[134] Meanwhile, theSyrian Free Army (SFA), a different rebel group backed by the United Statestook control of Palmyra in an offensive launched from theal-Tanf "deconfliction zone".[135]
On 7 December 2024, pro-government forces withdrew from theQuneitra Governorate, which borders theIsraeli-occupiedGolan Heights.[136] That day, the Israeli army helped theUNDOF repel an attack.[137] The Southern Front entered the suburbs of Damascus, which was simultaneously attacked from the north by the Syrian Free Army. As the rebels advanced, Assad fled Damascus toMoscow, where he was grantedpolitical asylum by Russian presidentVladimir Putin.[138][139][140] The next day, the Syrian opposition forces captured the cities ofHoms andDamascus. After Damascus fell, Ba'athist Syria collapsed, and Prime MinisterMohammad Ghazi al-Jalali stayed in caretaker capacity with the rebels' permission until they established theFirst Syrian transitional government two days later.[141]
In late December 2024, holdouts of Assad loyalistsstarted an insurgency in Western Syria. In March 2025, Syria'sInterim Constitution criminalized public support for the former Assad regime.[142]
Since the1963 seizure of power by itsneo-Ba'athistMilitary Committee until the fall of the Assad regime in 2024, theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party governed Syria as a one-party dictatorship that operated as atotalitarianpolice state.[17] Following a period of intra-party strife, Ba'athist general Hafez al-Assad purged his political rivals and the gained control of the Syrian Ba'ath party after the1970 coup d'état; since then, hisfamily dominated the country's politics until thecollapse of the Ba'athist system.[2][143][144]
Julie Rajan noted that Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdowns on dissidents and peaceful protestors was modelled after the pattern of Hafez al-Assad's totalitarianism,[145] which was marked by the pervasive regimentation of civilians through the Ba'athist military and judicial apparatus.[146] Through the emergency laws imposed on Syrians by the Ba'ath party since 1963, both Hafez and Bashar exercised dictatorial powers and centralized administrative functioning around theAssad family and their small clique ofloyalists.[147] The Ba'athist emergency laws enabled Hafez and Bashar to orderarbitrary detentions, interfere in the personal lives of civilians, operate extrajudicial structures, and declare punishments against suspected dissidents through shadow courts.[147]
To further consolidate his grip on power, Hafez abolished the Ba'athist provisional constitution of 1969 and imposed the1973 constitution of Ba'athist Syria, which established a ferventlypersonalist autocracy. The document emphasized rigid centralization of power around the Syrian presidency, giving Hafez constitutional powers to appoint cabinet members and arbitrarily convene or dismiss the legislative assembly. The constitution further stipulated that all members of theSupreme Constitutional Court of Ba'athist Syria were to be directly appointed by the Syrian president, thereby enabling Hafez to exercisede facto control over the Ba'athist judicial apparatus and electoral process.[148] The provisions of Hafez al-Assad's 1973 constitution also entrenched the power of theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party, with its 8th article describing the party as "the leadingparty in the society and the state", effectively defining Ba'athist Syria as aone-partysocialist state governed underemergency laws.[149][150][151]
After Ba'athist Syria's adoption of a new constitution in 2012, its political system operated in the framework of apresidential state[152] that nominally permitted the candidacy of individuals who were not part of theBa'athist-controlledNational Progressive Front founded in 1972.[153][154] In practice, Ba'athist Syria remained aone-party state, which banned any independent or opposition political activity.[155][156]
There was no independent judiciary in the Syrian Arab Republic, since all judges and prosecutors were required to be Ba'athist appointees.[155] Syria'sjudicial branches included theSupreme Constitutional Court, theHigh Judicial Council, the Court of Cassation, and theState Security Courts. The Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) was abolished by President Bashar al-Assad by legislative decree No. 53 on 21 April 2011.[157] Syria had three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highesttribunal. Religious courts handled questions of personal and family law.[158]
Article 3(2) of the 1973constitution declaredIslamic jurisprudence a main source of legislation. The judicial system had elements ofOttoman,French, andIslamic laws. The Personal Status Law 59 of 1953 (amended by Law 34 of 1975) was essentially a codifiedsharia;[159] the Code of Personal Status was applied to Muslims by sharia courts.[160]
Elections were conducted through asham process; characterised by wide-scalerigging, repetitive voting and absence ofvoter registration and verification systems.[161][162][163] Parliamentary elections were held on 13 April 2016 in the government-controlled areas of Syria, for all 250 seats of Syria's unicameral legislature, the Majlis al-Sha'ab, or thePeople's Council of Syria.[164] Even before results had been announced, several nations, including Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, declared their refusal to accept the results, largely citing it "not representing the will of the Syrian people."[165] However, representatives of the Russian Federation have voiced their support of this election's results. Various independent observers and international organizations denounced theAssad regime's electoral conduct as a scam; with the United Nations condemning it as illegitimate elections with "no mandate".[166][167][168][163]Electoral Integrity Project's 2022 Global report designated Syrian elections as a "facade" with the worst electoral integrity in the world alongsideComoros andCentral African Republic.[169][170]
Syria's state ideology under the Ba'ath Party wasNeo-Ba'athism, a distinct andfar-left[171] variant of Ba'athism that became the official ideology of the Syrian regional branch of the Ba'ath party after its 6th National Congress in September 1963.[25][26][27] The neo-Ba'athist radicals, who dominated the regional structures of the Syrian branch of theBa'ath party, initiated a power struggle against the party's old guard, culminating in the1966 neo-Ba'athist coup.[172][173] The coup resulted in the structural separation of theBa'ath party's Syrian regional branch from itsNational Command, and transformedSyrian Ba'ath Party into amilitarist organization.[174] The coup and the subsequent neo-Ba'athist purges against Aflaqists triggered the deepest schism in the Ba'ath movement's history,[175] which resulted in the splintering of the movement intoIraqi-dominated andSyrian-dominated factions, andthe ensuing conflict between them.[176]
Neo-Ba'athism has been described as a divergence from Ba'athism proper that had gone beyond itspan-Arabist ideological basis by espousingMarxism and purging the classical Ba'athist leadership of the old guard, includingMichel Aflaq andSalah al-Din al-Bitar.[177][178] As a result of these ideological differences, the Syrian Ba'ath Party came into conflict withArab nationalists such asNasserists and theIraqi Ba'athists, particularlySaddamists, with whom theymaintained a bitter rivalry.[179] Neo-Ba'athism has been criticized by the founder of Ba'athist ideology,Michel Aflaq, for diverging from the original principles of Ba'athism.[180] Since 1971 (after Hafez al-Assad came to power), neo-Ba'athism has transformed intoAssadism, with even greaternationalism,militarism and a cult of personality of theAssad family. State propaganda portrayed Assadism as a neo-Ba'athist current that evolved Ba'athist ideology with the needs of the modern era.[181]
Ba'athist Syria had a broad, highly militaristic and anti-Israelipropaganda. The entireneo-Baathist ideology ultimately revolved around "resisting the Israeli threat" and creating a powerful army and amilitarized society (along withArab andSyrian nationalism and buildingsocialism). These ideas were constantly disseminated to society through themedia, and inschools through the education system: in Ba'athist Syria, there were virtually no independent media or similar educational systems (both were completely controlled by the regime). In addition to glorifying Ba'athist ideas, state propaganda glorified theAssad family and participated in thepersonality cult of Hafez (and, since 2000, Bashar) Assad: for example, Syrian officials were made to refer to him as 'the sanctified one' (al-Muqaddas).[182] Independentjournalists in Syria were under strict control and surveillance by the regime, including being forced tocensor themselves for fear of being thrown into prison.[183]
School students were taught Ba'athism through a course known as "Political Arab Sociology".[184] Teachers began each lesson with the song "Our eternal leader, Hafez al-Assad".[182] There was also a youth organization in schools called the "Revolutionary Youth Union" (RYU), created in 1968. It is a governmental, neo-Ba'athist,nationalist andanti-Zionist organization that is dedicated to "educating young people in middle and high schools about the ideology of the Ba'ath Party" and preparing them to join its ranks (In other words, is engaged in propaganda of the "correct values of the Ba'ath Party" that everySyrian should follow). The union's legislation provided for "educating the country's young generation, developing their energy, organizing them for collective work, training and qualifying them, and preparing the youth to "contribute to the defense of the revolution led by the party." Membership in the organization usually begins in the tenth year of school and is a path to active membership in the Ba'ath Party after at least three years ofideological (and somemilitary) training. The RYU also publishes the newspaperAl-Masirah. Primary school students was headed by "Al-Ba'ath Vanguard" (created in 1974), and college students was headed by "National Union of Syrian Students" (created in 1963).[185] Periodically, military marches were held in Ba'athist Syria with the participation of students in military uniform, with banners or portraits of Hafez al-Assad. In addition to the educational system and the media, the regime has taken control of the country'spolitical andreligious spheres.
Following the 1963 Syrian coup, the ruling Syrian Ba'ath Party established close relations with theSoviet Union, increasing Soviet power and influence in Syria.[186] The far-left neo-Ba'athist Syrian Ba'ath pursued a very close alliance withSoviet Union. Following the Sixth National Congress in 1963, the party publicly adopted the doctrine of ideological alliance with theEastern Bloc:
"TheArab Socialist Ba'th Party had placed the question of the struggle againstimperialism in its international and human framework and considered thesocialist camp a positive, active force in the struggle against imperialism... a homeland crushed and exploited by imperialism render the fundamental starting points of the socialist camp more harmonious with the interests of ourArab homeland and more in sympathy with ourArab people."[187]
In 1971, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad signed an agreement with the Soviet Union, allowing it to open itsnaval military base in Tartus and gain a stable presence in theMiddle East amid theCold War.[188][189] Thousands of Syrian military officers and educated professionals studied in Russia duringHafez al-Assad's rule.[190]
Thousands of Soviet advisors and technicians assisted theSyrian Arab Army during the 1973Yom Kippur War withIsrael. 3,750 tonnes of aid was airlifted during the war to Syria. By the end of October 1973, the Soviet Union sent 63,000 tonnes of aid, mainly to Syria to replace its losses during the war. Soviet–Syrian relations became strained in 1976 due to Hafez al-Assad'sintervention in the Lebanese civil war and theSyrian occupation of Lebanon, as the Soviet Union did not want a confrontation between the Assad regime and thePalestine Liberation Organization, who were both Soviet allies. The Soviets froze weapons supplies to Syria, whereas Syria denied the Soviets access to its naval bases.[191][192] It wasn't until April 1977 that the two states improved their relations. Syria refused to condemn the 1979Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and signed a twenty-yearTreaty of Friendship and Cooperation in October 1980.[193]
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The Soviet Union'ssuccessor state,Russia, stronglysupportedBashar al-Assad's regime throughout theSyrian civil war, which began in 2011. From 2012, Russia withChina repeatedlyvetoedWestern-sponsored draft resolutions in theUN Security Council that condemned Bashar's government for attacking civilians and demanded Bashar's resignation, which would have opened the possibility ofUnited Nationssanctions against his government.[194][195][196] In September 2015, theFederation Council authorized Russian presidentVladimir Putin to usearmed forces in Syria.[197] Russian air and missile strikes began targeting theIslamic State, theArmy of Conquest,al-Nusra Front, and theFree Syrian Army.[198][199]
Syria and Iran are historic and strategic allies, with Syria being regarded as Iran's "closest ally".[200] The relationship between the Iranian and Syrian governments has sometimes been described as anAxis of Resistance.[201] Historically, the two countries shared a common animosity towards theIraqi Ba'ath Party andSaddam Hussein, with Syria providing military aid to Iran during theIran–Iraq War. After Hafez al-Assad's death in 2000, Bashar al-Assad continued the relationship by supporting Hezbollah and various Iranian proxies; with the alliance being described as "the central component of his security doctrine".[202][203]
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Following the outbreak ofSyrian revolution in 2011, Iran began politically and militarily aiding the Assad government.The Guardian reported in May 2011 that the IranianIrgc had increased its "level of technical support and personnel support" to strengthenSyrian military's "ability to deal with protesters".[204] Since the beginning of theinsurgency in Syria, Iran has provided training, technical support, and combat troops to the Assad government.[205][206] Estimates of the number of Iranian personnel in Syria range from hundreds to tens of thousands.[207][208][209] LebaneseHezbollah fighters, backed by Iran's government, have taken direct combat roles since 2012.[207][210] From the summer of 2013, Iran and Hezbollah provided important battlefield support to Syria, allowing it to make advances againstSyrian rebels.[210] As of 2023, Iran maintains 55 military bases in Syria and 515 other military points, the majority inAleppo andDeir Ezzor governorates and the Damascus suburbs; these are 70% of the foreign military sites in the country.[211]
Syria was a prominent adversary ofBa'athist Iraq during theCold War and maintained afierce rivalry with it, despite many similarities with the Iraqi regime. Syria supported Iran by weapons in theIran–Iraq War and closed the Iraqi oil pipelines that pass through it, and joined the American-ledcoalition against Iraq during theGulf War. During theIslamist uprising in Syria, the Iraqi government ofSaddam Hussein had provided arms as well as logistical support to theMuslim Brotherhood, particularly during the1982 Hama massacre. However, by 1997, Syrian presidentHafez al-Assad began reestablishing relations with Iraqi presidentSaddam Hussein. The ascendance of Bashar in 2000 boosted this process, and Syria ignored thesanctions against Iraq, helping Iraq to illegally import oil.[212]
Bashar al-Assad opposed theAmerican-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He shelteredIraqi Ba'athists and allowed volunteers through Syria to fight the Americans. Syrian pressure for reviewing thede-Ba'athification policy and support forinsurgents was despised by the new Iraqi government.[213] As a result, theAmerican-installed government in Iraq suspended oil supplies to Syria. In 2004, The U.S. commander of thecoalition forces in Iraq,George W. Casey Jr., accused Syria of hosting Iraqi insurgent leaders who were co-ordinating theanti-American insurgency from their bases in Syria.[214]
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, former Vice Chairman of theRevolutionary Command Council ofBa'athist Iraq, had close relations with Ba'athist Syria. Despite the historical differences between the two Ba'ath factions, al-Douri had reportedly urged Saddam to open oil pipelines with Syria, building a financial relationship with theAssad family. After theAmerican invasion of Iraq in 2003, al-Douri reportedly fled toDamascus, from where he organizedanti-American militant groups and co-ordinated major combat operations during theIraqi insurgency.[215][216] In 2009,General David Petraeus, who was at the time heading theU.S. Central Command, stated that al-Douri was residing in Syria.[217]
In 2006, Syria recognized the post-invasion Iraqi government and resumed ties. However relations still remained poor until 2011, whenAmerican troops withdrew from Iraq and theSyrian revolution erupted, during which hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets; demanding the overthrow of theAssad regime. Both governments alongside Iran formed a tripartite regional alliance as both Iran andMaliki government in Iraq were critical of the potential rise of Saudi influence in Syria, a Sunni-majority country. Unlike most of theArab League countries, Iraq rejected calls for al-Assad to step down.[110]
Relations between Ba'athist Syria and theUnited States were strained in 1967 following theSix-Day War which resulted in theIsraeli occupation of the Golan Heights, but relations resumed in 1974 following theAgreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria. Syria was added to theU.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism on 29 December 1979, and remains the only state from the original 1979 list to remain on the list.[218]
Relations between the United States and Syria deteriorated due to Syria's opposition to theIraq War. The Syrian government also refused to prevent foreign fighters from using Syrian borders to enter Iraq and deport officials from the formerSaddam Hussein government that supportIraqi insurgency. In May 2003, the U.S. Secretary of State,Colin Powell, visited Damascus to demand Syrian closure of the offices ofHamas,Islamic Jihad and thePopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[219][220]
Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the United States repeatedly called on president Bashar al-Assad to resign and imposed sanctions on his government.[221]
Ba'athist Syria was divided into 14governorates, which were subdivided into 61districts, which in turn further divided into sub-districts. The majority of the Quneitra Governorate, collectively known as theGolan Heights, was seized by Israel during theSix-Day War in 1967 and has been occupied from that point on.
| No. | Governorate | Capital |
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| 1 | Latakia | Latakia |
| 2 | Idlib | Idlib |
| 3 | Aleppo | Aleppo |
| 4 | Raqqa | Raqqa |
| 5 | Al-Hasakah | Al-Hasakah |
| 6 | Tartus | Tartus |
| 7 | Hama | Hama |
| 8 | Deir ez-Zor | Deir ez-Zor |
| 9 | Homs | Homs |
| 10 | Damascus | Damascus |
| 11 | Rif Dimashq | Douma |
| 12 | Quneitra | Quneitra |
| 13 | Daraa | Daraa |
| 14 | Al-Suwayda | Al-Suwayda |
During the Ba'athist rule the economy of the Syrian Arab Republic experienced both ups and downs. After the Ba'ath Party came to power, the Syrian economy underwent a radical socialist transformation, nationalizing industrial enterprises and distributing land among landless peasants and farmers. By the mid-1960s, government-sponsoredland reform andnationalization of major industries and foreign investments had confirmed the newsocialist direction of Syria's economic policy.[222] As the state assumed greater control over economic decision-making by adoptingcentralized planning and strictly regulating commercial transactions, Syria experienced a substantial loss of skilled workers, administrators, and their capital.[222] Despite the political upheavals, which undermined the confidence of landowners, merchants, and industrialists, the state successfully implemented large-scale development projects to expand industry, agriculture, and infrastructure.[222] By the 1970s, 85% of agricultural lands were distributed to landless peasant populations and tenant farmers. Banks, oil companies, power production and 90% of large-scale industries were nationalised.
By the end of the 1970s, the Syrian economy had shifted from its traditional agrarian base to an economy dominated by the service, industrial, and commercial sectors.[222] Massive expenditures for development of irrigation, electricity, water, road building projects, irisin plants and expansion of health services and education to rural areas contributed to prosperity. However, the economy remained dependent on foreign aid and grants to finance the growing deficits both in the budget and in trade. Syria, as a front-line state in theArab-Israeli conflict, was also vulnerable to the vagaries of Middle East politics, relying on Arab aid transfers andSoviet assistance to support mounting defense expenditures.
However, by the mid-1980s, the country's economic climate had shifted from prosperity to austerity.[222] Syria's economic boom collapsed as a result of the rapid fall of world oil prices, lower export revenues, drought affecting agricultural production, and falling worker remittances. Also, Arab aid levels decreased very much because of economic retrenchment in the oil-producing states and Syrian support for Iran in theIran-Iraq War. Real per capita GDP fell 22% between 1982 and 1989.[223] To restore the economy, the government sharply reduced spending, cut back imports, encouraged more private sector and foreign investment, and launched an anticorruption campaign against smugglers and black-market money changers. In July 1984, the government formed an effective anti-smuggling squad to control the Lebanon–Syria borders: it's seized $3.8 million in goods during its first week of work.[224] However, massive defense outlays continued to divert resources from productive investments.
The destruction and dislocation associated with the civil war have devastated Syria's economy. By the end of 2013, the UN estimated total economic damage from the Syrian Civil War at $143 billion.[225] In 2018, the World Bank estimated that about one-third of Syria's housing stock and one half of its health and education facilities have been destroyed by the conflict. According to the World Bank, a cumulative total of $226 billion in GDP was lost due to the conflict from 2011 to 2016.[226] The Syrian economy suffered from conflict-relatedhyperinflation. The Syrian annual inflation rate is one of the highest in the world.[227][228] The national currency, theSyrian pound, tumbled in mid-2020 against the US dollar, therefore stating that Syrian economy was only taking a turn for the worst. The pound, which traded at LS 47 to the dollar before the 2011 uprising, plunged to over LS 3,000 to the dollar. Prices of basic goods have skyrocketed and some staples have disappeared from the market as merchants and the public struggled to keep up with the rising cost of living.[229] During the civil war, the Syrian economy relied upon dwindling customs and income taxes which are heavily bolstered by lines of credit from Iran, Russia and China. Iran is believed to have spent between $6 billion and US$20 billion per year on Syria during the first four years of the civil war. TheSyrian pound lost 80% of its value, with the economy becoming partstate-owned and partwar economy.[230] A report byStrategic Foresight Group, an India-basedthink tank, calculated the opportunitycost of conflict for the Middle East for 1991–2010 at US$12 trillion in 2006 dollars.[231] Syria's share in this was US$152 billion, more than four times the projected 2010 GDP of US$36 billion.[231] The Syrian Center for Policy Research stated in March 2015 that, by then, nearly three million Syrians had lost their jobs because of the civil war, causing the loss of the primary source of income of more than 12 million people; unemployment levels "surged" from 14.9 percent in 2011 to 57.7 percent at the end of 2014.[232] In 2024, theWorld Bank estimated that the Syrian GDP had contracted by 84% from 2010 to 2023. As of 2023, its nominal GDP was $6.2 billion.
Agriculture is a high priority in Syria's economic development plans, as the government seeks to achieve food self-sufficiency, increase export earnings, and halt rural out-migration.[233] The first Ba'ath coup installed a harsher limit on landownership with a maximum of 15 to 55 hectares per individual for irrigated land and between 80 and 200 hectares per individual for non-irrigated land. This limit was based on the fertility of land itself. The speed at which the expropriation of land occurred increased so that almost one million hectares were eventually expropriated and 240.000 hectares had been redistributed in a span of a year and a half.[234] With another military coup in 1966, when a more radical regime was established, the land expropriated from large landowners were no longer redistributed. Instead, the lands became state-owned properties where farmers work and do not have rights to ownership. In addition, the state decided the kinds of the crops to be planted, handling, and marketing of the products. Particularly growing cotton and wheat.[235] Over time, the importance of the agricultural sector in the Syrian economy gradually declined as other sectors grew more rapidly.
In 1981, as in the 1970s, 53% of the population was still classified asrural, although movement to the cities continued to accelerate. However, in contrast to the 1970s, when 50% of thelabor force was employed in agriculture, by 1983 agriculture employed only 30% of the labor force. Furthermore, by the mid-1980s, unprocessed farm products accounted for only 4% of exports, equivalent to 7% of non-petroleum exports. Industry, commerce, and transportation still depended onfarm produce and relatedagro-business, but agriculture's preeminent position had clearly eroded. By 1985 agriculture (including a little forestry and fishing) contributed only 16.5% to GDP, down from 22.1% in 1976. Thanks to sustainedcapital investment, infrastructure development,subsidies of inputs, and price supports, before the civil war Syria went from a net importer of many agricultural products to an exporter of cotton, fruits,vegetables, and other foodstuffs. One of the prime reasons for this turnaround was the government's investment in hugeirrigation systems in northern and northeastern Syria.[236] The agriculture sector, as of 2009, employed about 17% of the labor force and generates about 21% of the gross domestic product,[237][238] of which livestock accounted for 16%, and fruit and grains for more than 40%.[233] During the Syrian Civil War, the agricultural sector has witnessed a drop in producing all kinds of commodities such as wheat, cotton and olives,[239] due to the lack of security and immigration of agricultural workforce.[240]
The Ba'ath Party nationalized many oil companies in Syria. The Syrian oil industry took off in 1968, when the Karatchok oil field began production after a pipeline connecting it to theHoms refinery was completed, although Syria did not begin exporting oil until the mid-1980s.[241]
Syria is a relatively small oil producer, that accounted for just 0.5% of the global production in 2010,[242][243] falling to less than 0.05% by 2016.[244] Although Syria isnot a major oil exporter by Middle Eastern standards, oil is alarge industry forming a major component of the Syrian economy. Iran provided Syria with millions of free and discounted barrels of oil throughout the 1980s. According to the 2009 Syria Report of the Oxford Business Group, the oil sector accounted for 23% ofgovernment revenues, 20% of exports and 22% of GDP in 2008. Syria exported roughly 150,000 bpd in 2008, and oil accounted for a majority of the country's export income.[245] Syria's two biggest oil companies are theSyrian Petroleum Company (SPC), which is owned by theMinistry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Al-Furat Petroleum Company which is 50% owned by General Petroleum Corporation and the other 50% are foreign owned. During civil war oil reserves are expected to decrease in the coming years, and Syria has become a net oil importer.
Syria's oil sector has been hit by the Civil War andinternational sanctions imposed on Syria. Syria produced 406,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2008, but the oil production dropped to 353,000 bpd in 2011 and had plunged to just 24,000 bpd by 2018, a reduction of more than 90%,[246] according to theBP Statistical Review of World Energy.[247] During the civil war, the self-declared state ofIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) controlled most oil fields in eastern Syria starting from 2013, in which theysmuggled the oil located in Deir ez-Zor province outside Syria by producing 34,000–40,000 barrels per day (bpd). Quality of Petroleum determined price of each barrel sold at the wellhead 25 to 45 dollars.[248]
Industry has been a vital part of the Syrian economy in Ba'athist era for many years, because the Ba'athist government placed great emphasis on modernizing Syrian industry. Major industries include;petroleum,textiles,food processing,beverages,tobacco,phosphate rock mining,cement,oil seeds crushing andcar assembly.[249]
The industrial sector, which includesmining,manufacturing,construction, andpetroleum, accounted for 27.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 and employed about 16 percent of the labor force.[249] Syria's manufacturing sector was largely state dominated until the 1990s, when economic reforms allowed greater local and foreign private-sector participation. Private participation remains constrained, however, by the lack of investment funds, input/output pricing limits, cumbersome customs and foreign exchange regulations, and poor marketing.[250] Like all other sectors of the economy, Syrian industry has declined due to the civil war.
TheBa'athist Syrian Captagon industry was the state-sponsoredcaptagon manufacturing and trafficking apparatus of Ba'athist Syria. Ba'athist Syria exported the drug to various countries, mainly in theMiddle East region, includingJordan,Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Gulf states, andEgypt. The drug export was one of the main sources of income for the government ofBashar al-Assad, helping it to prop up the economy during theSyrian Civil War.[251][252][253] The industry was run by a clandestine network ofwarlords,drug cartels, crime families andbusiness men loyal to theAssad dynasty, operating across the regions of Syria andLebanon.[254] Another major drug which was manufactured and smuggled globally ishashish. As of 2021, the export of illegal drugs eclipsed the country's legal exports, leading theNew York Times to call Syria "the world's newest narcostate". The drug exports allowed the Assad regime to generate hard currency, pay daily wages for the deterioratingstate army, finance private militias and hire mercenaries.[255][254][256]
Based on 2023 estimates, about 80% of world's captagon was produced in Syria and exported from the port ofLatakia with the assistance of the Ba'athist Syrian government under the command ofMaher al-Assad, brother of the president.[257] Estimates suggest that the Captagon trade market ranges from $5.7 billion to $57 billion.[258][259] This estimated revenue was three times greater than the combined operations of theMexican cartels.[260] Over the years, hundreds of millions of Captagon pills were smuggled into Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf countries. One of the main smuggling routes was through the Anbar province, which borders Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. In 2021, more than 250 million Captagon pills were seized worldwide, 18 times more than the number of pills seized in 2017.[261] Additionally, according toAl Jazeera, in 2022, Jordan seized 65 million Captagon pills in Syria en route to its territory. In 2015, the Secretary of Saudi Arabia's National Committee for Drug Control reported that the majority of Captagon consumers are aged 12 to 22.[262] TheNew York Times reported in December 2021 that the4th Armoured Division, commanded by Maher al-Assad, oversees much of the production and distribution of Captagon, among other drugs, reinforcing Syria's status as a narco-state on theMediterranean Sea. The unit controls manufacturing facilities, packing plants, and smuggling networks all across Syria (which have started to also movecrystal meth). The division's security bureau, headed by Maj. Gen. Ghassan Bilal, provides protection for factories and along smuggling routes to the port city Latakia and to border crossings with Jordan andLebanon.[263] The captagon industry is also supported by the Iran-backedShia groupHezbollah.[264] According to estimates based on official data from a 2022 AFP investigation, captagon surpassed all of the country's other legal exports combined.[265][266]
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Syria under Ba'athist rule was characterized by amilitary dictatorship and apolice state, where theSyrian army brought the Ba'ath Party to power. The regime's survival was largely enabled by the Ba'ath Party's "Ba'athization" of the army, and its heavy reliance on the army-security apparatus. From 1963, the top army command in theSyrian Army became increasingly Ba'athist, while Ba'athist officers becameprogressive. The Ba'athists pursued a very activemilitaristic policy aimed at some kind of "mobilization of the Syrian people to fight the Israeli enemy." After Hafez al-Assad rose to power, he purgedSunni middle- and upper-class officers, replacing them with rural minoritarian ones, and consolidated his power with the establishment of anAlawite-recruited "praetorian guard" that helped ensure regime control over the military.[267][268] The combined armed forces of Ba'athist Syria from 1963 to 2024 were officially known as theSyrian Arab Armed Forces.
Following the Syrian loss during theSix-Day War withIsrael, Hafez al-Assad initiated a huge expansion of the military to achieve military parity with Israel. Assad gave a high priority to building a strong military and preparing it for a confrontation with Israel, both for offensive and defensive purposes and to enable him to politically negotiate the return of theGolan Heights from a position of military strength. He allocated up to 70 percent of the annual budget to the military build-up and received large quantities of modern arms from the Soviet Union.[269] TheSyrian Arab Army, which was mainly a conscripted force, increased from 50,000 personnel in 1967 to 225,000 in 1973, and to over 350,000 by the 1990s.
By the early 1980s, Syria was left alone in thefight against Israel:Egyptsigned peace treaty with Israel,Iraq diverted all its resources to thewar with Iran,Jordan andSaudi Arabia reoriented their attention topost-revolutionary Iran, seeing it as a greater threat. Syria had almost no full-fledged allies in the region (exceptIran), since relations with otherArab countries were shaky. As a result, Assad was forced to develop his new doctrine of the Strategic Balance, aimed primarily at a single-handed military confrontation with Israel, which pushed Syria to even greatermilitarization. And this doctrine gave rise to a new intra-Arab policy and was aimed at consolidating Assad's internal front.[270] As a result - with the help of the Soviet Union, Assad built a large military equipped with modern tanks, airplanes and long-rangeground-to-ground missiles capable of launching chemical warheads into all Israeli cities.[270] This enabled him to deterIsrael from attacking Syria and in the event of war, to cause heavy losses to Israel.
The degree ofmilitarization of Ba'athist Syria was indecently high. Syria'sair force andtank fleets were not much smaller (if not larger) than those of large European countries. In 1979, Syria was one of the four largest arms importers in the world (between 1961 and 1979, it imported weapons worth $7.4 billion, one of the highest figures).[271] In 1981, defense spending amounted to 13.1 percent ofGNP. In 1982, Syria spent $2.4 billion on defense and internal security, which was 30 percent of the total government budget for the year.[272] In 1990, Syria was the fourth most militarized country in the world in proportion to population, with 35.9 soldiers for every 1,000 inhabitants, and the 12th highest per capita defense spender.[273] With thecollapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Syria lost its main supplier of military equipment, contributing to the isolation of the Syrian Army. In 2005, 50% of Syria's national budget was contributed to military and intelligence spending, and Syria had a standing army of 215,000 soldiers, and over 400,000 upon mobilization, as well as 4,700 tanks, 4,500 personnel carriers, 850 surface-to-air missiles, 4,000 anti-aircraft guns, and 611 combat planes.[274] Raymond Hinnebusch described this process as a "product of a nationalist party and an army radicalized by the conflict with Israel, developed under Hafez al-Assad into a huge national security apparatus designed to confront Israel."[275]
Most of the local military developments for the army are carried out by 3 companies:Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), Établissement Industriel de la Défense (EID) and Syrian Defense Laboratories (SDL).[276][277]
Until 2013, Syria hadone of the largest arsenals of chemical weapons. Syria was accumulating a huge arsenal as a deterrent toIsrael andTurkey. For some time, Syria was believed to have the world's third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, after the United States and Russia.[278]
According to some US analysts, Syria was provided with some chemical weapons and delivery systems prior to the 1973Yom Kippur War. According to US intelligence reports, Syria began to develop its chemical weapons capabilities in the later 1970s, with supplies and training from theSoviet Union, and likely with equipment and precursor chemicals from private companies in Western Europe.[279] However Syrian production of chemical weapons is not believed to have begun until the mid-1980s. In 1988, a U.S. analyst described Syria's chemical weapon capability as more advanced than theIraqi chemical weapons program.[280] A 2007 assessment indicated that Syria was capable of producing several hundred tons of chemical weapon agents per year.[281] Another 2007 report said that Syria was believed to have a stockpile of hundreds of tonnes of chemical weapons agents.[282][283] Syria was believed to be able to deliver chemical weapons by aerial bombs, surface-to-surface missiles[280][283] and artillery rockets.[283]
The destruction of Syria's chemical weapons that the Assad government had declared was completed by August 2014, yet further disclosures, incomplete documentation, and allegations of withholding part of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile since mean that serious concerns regarding chemical weapons and related sites in Syria remain.[284]
Although Syria has never been able to acquire nuclear weapons,it's almost successful attempts to create it were an concern forIsrael andUS intelligence. For a long time, Israel and theUnited States did not even suggest the presence of a Syrian nuclear program due to its high secrecy (even theSyrian Defense Minister did not know about it).[citation needed]
The nuclear program of Syria allegedly began in 1979. In the 90s, Hafez Assad entered into an agreement withNorth Korea on the construction of a nuclear reactor in Syria, hoping to give his inexperienced heir Bashar a strong argument in international dialogs. Syria has been aparty to theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since 24 September 1969, and has a limited civil nuclear program. Despite claiming to be a proponent of aWeapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone (WMDFZ) in the Middle East (Syria has not handed a letter confirming its support for WMDFZ[285][286]), Syria was accused of pursuing a military nuclear program with a reported nuclear facility in a desert Syrian region ofDeir ez-Zor. The reactor's components were believed to have been designed and manufactured inNorth Korea, with the reactor's striking similarity in shape and size to the North KoreanYongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center. The nuclear reactor was still under construction, but at the late stage. That information alarmedIsraeli military andintelligence to such a degree that the idea of a targeted airstrike was conceived, resulting inOperation Outside the Box on 6 September 2007 that saw as many as eight Israeli aircraft destroying the facility. Israeli government is said to have bounced the idea of the operation off the US Bush administration, although the latter declined to participate. U.S. intelligence officials claimed low confidence that the site was meant for weapons development.[287] The suspected reactor was destroyed in the Israeli attack, which was suspected to have killed ten North Korean workers.[288] Until 2018, Israel officially did not admit that he had inflicted an airstrike, and the Assad regime did not admit that he was building a nuclear reactor.
In December 2021, there were reports fromMiddle East Monitor, that Syria was building anuclear reactor on the El-Gab plain in the north-west of Syria again with the support of the North Korea and Iran.[289]
Human rights in Ba'athist Syria were effectively non-existent. The government's human rights record was considered one of the worst in the world. As a result, Ba'athist Syria was globally condemned by prominent international organizations, including theUnited Nations,Human Rights Watch,Amnesty International,[290][291][292] and theEuropean Union.[293] Civil liberties, political rights, freedom of speech and assembly were severely restricted under theBa'athist government ofBashar al-Assad, which was regarded as "one of the world's most repressive regimes".[155][294] The 50th edition ofFreedom in the World, the annual report published byFreedom House since 1973, designates Syria as "Worst of the Worst" among the "Not Free" countries. The report lists Syria as one of the two countries to get the lowest possible score (1/100).[155][295]
Ba'athist Syria has a long history ofarbitrary arrests and detentions, not only in its own country but also in neighboringLebanon, much of which wasoccupied by theSyrian Arab Army due toits civil war (at least 17,000 people have disappeared in Lebanon during the occupation, presumably while held in Syria).[296]Martial law, in place since1963, allowed the government to abolishcivil law and replace it withmilitary law, imposecurfews, and resort tomilitary tribunals. During the decades of rule by the Assad dynasty from 1970 to 2011, more than 70,000 Syrians wereforcibly disappeared, more than 40,000 were executed throughextrajudicial killings, and hundreds of thousands of civilians were displaced bydeportations.[297]
In Lebanon, Ba'athist Syria haspersecuted andexecuted its political opponents and those who opposeits presence in Lebanon (as well as in its own country).Syrian military intelligence and army has been responsible for a number ofkidnappings andassassinations of Lebanese citizens, from anti-Syrian leaders and presidents to ordinary civilians. The army has also targeted representatives of theRed Cross organization.[298]
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Syria has several other ethnic groups, the Kurds... they make up an estimated 9 percent...Turkomen comprise around 4–5 percent of the total population. The rest of the ethnic mix of Syria is made of Assyrians (about 4 percent), Armenians (about 2 percent), and Circassians (about 1 percent).
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)System of government: Officially a socialist,... democratic state; presidential system (ruled by the al-Assad family, with the security services occupying a powerful position)
It was some years before the all-Arab leadership was forced to reveal the bitter truth that the structure of the new Ba'th Party in Syria had been 'artificial' from the outset, and that since its rise to power in 1963 it had been based on 'elements that served the purpose of the governmental centres represented by the Military Committee. ... The Marxist left was quick to exploit the opportunities offered in the first few months of Ba'th rule... to engineer the elections to the regional conference (the first since the party's rise to power) to their own ends. The conference, held in September 1963,... set out the new party platform, which was to become the credo of the neo-Ba'th. ... In short, the Ba'th in its latest variant is a bureaucratic apparatus headed by the military, whose daily life and routine are shaped by rigid military oppression on the home front, and military aid from abroad.
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Assad's violent responses to the civilian demonstrations against his government reveal a pattern of totalitarianism initiated by his father, Hafez al- Assad.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The Syrian election ranked as worst among all the contests held during 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Syria, headed by the radical leftist Baath Party overtly challenged Nasser's leadership credentials by highlighting his diminished revolutionary spirit.
The change has been particularly marked under Asad. He has created a fairly popular Presidential regime: radical left, the most advanced socialist regime in the Arab world, it is progressively widening the frame to include more peasants and labourers.
The ideology propounded by the Ba'ath changed completely. The accent on Arab nationalism was discarded as was moderate socialism. Their place was taken by Syrian nationalism and extreme left-wing ideas verging on communism.
...radical left-wing Ba'ath party in Syria
The leadership now in control of Syria does not represent the gamut of the Ba'th party. It is composed mainly of extreme leftists vesting almost exclusive authority in the military wing of the party.
The period 1963 to 1970 when Asad finally succeeded was marked ideologically by uncertainty and even turbulence. It was a period of transition from the old nationalist politicians to the radical socialist Baathis ... struggle between 'moderates' and radicals was centred on the dispute whether to impose a radical left wing government and a social revolution on Syria or to follow a more moderate Arab unionist course which would possibly appease opponents of the Baath. The radicals largely held the upper hand and worked to strengthen the control of the party over the state.
In 1963 ... the socialist Ba'ath Party, seized power. The radical left wing of the party then launched an internal coup in 1966, initiating accelerated land reform
Syrian Baathist version of Arab nationalism and socialism offered plenty of points of contact with Soviet policy ... when the left-wing Baathist faction led by Nureddin Atasi came to power, accelerated Syria's rapprochement with the Soviet Union ... for the USSR Syria remained an uneasy ally whose actions were beyond control, often unpredictable and the cause of complications. The ultra-leftist slogans originating from Damascus (such as a 'people's war') were not received enthusiastically in Moscow. Mustafa Tlas, the new Syrian chief of staff, was a theoretician of guerrilla warfare and had even translated works by Che Guevara who was not particularly popular among the Soviet leaders.
influence of different views, came from the more radical left-wing nationalist groups. These groups included ... Syria's Ba'ath party which seized power in Damascus in 1963
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Russia has used its veto powers four times to block resolutions on Syria that Moscow sees as damaging to its ally, the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
When Hafez al-Assad died in 2000, Bashar assumed power, surprising everyone by making Syria's "link with Hezbollah – and its patrons in Teheran – the central component of his security doctrine", while he continued his father´s outspoken critic of the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
A top Army general said yesterday that the Iraqi insurgency was being run in part by former senior Iraqi Baath Party officials operating in Syria who call themselves the 'New Regional Command.'
These men, from the former governing party of deposed president Saddam Hussein, are 'operating out of Syria with impunity and providing direction and financing for the insurgency', said Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the U.S. commander in Iraq. 'That needs to stop', Casey said at a Pentagon briefing
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