Syrian Arab Republic

A demonstration in the city of Banyas on the 6th of May, 2011 (Syria-Frames-Of- Freedom)	Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABr)	View of the ancient desert city of Palmyra with the Temple of Bel (Bernard Gagnon)

Context

After gaining independence from colonial France in the 1930s, Syria descended into a period of political instability with multiple changes in leadership. A split within the ruling Ba’ath party in 1966 lead to the “corrective movement” which ultimately elevated Hafez al-Assad to the office of the presidency in 1971 - a position he would hold for nearly 30 years. Bashar al-Assad inherited the presidency upon his father’s death in 2000. Inspired by the events of the Arab spring, small demonstrations began in January which erupted into mass protests in March after the detention and torture of children who had allegedly scrawled graffiti on school walls calling for “the downfall of the regime.” The protest movement has since grown into an uprising and a government crackdown has left thousands dead.

Key Developments

• A violent military crackdown against a mostly peaceful Syrian protest movement continues into 2012 with thousands killed and tens of thousands detained.
• A manifold of sanctions have been imposed against the Assad regime by the Arab and international community in an attempt to halt the killings but the United Nation Security Council has failed to agree on a resolution on the matter.
• An opposition “Syrian National Council” has been formed while a nascent armed resistance movement comprised of groups of defecting soldiers has spread throughout the country.
• Risk of destructive full-scale civil war along ethnic lines increases the longer the conflict draws on.