From London ophthalmologist to Syrian dictator: The rise and fall of Bashar al-Assad

The Bashar Al-Assad regime has come to an end after 24 years. Rebels announced their arrival in the Syrian capital on state television, prompting residents to take to the streets of Damascus to celebrate.

Russia, the ally that let Assad down this time, has reacted and said that he has stepped down from power and has given instructions for a peaceful transfer of power. But so far no one knows where he is after leaving the country.

However, there has been no shortage of reactions from other world leaders who have expressed that "the barbaric state has finally fallen."

But why this label for Bashar al-Assad?

Bashar al-Assad became president in 2000, following the death of his father, Hafez. The decision preserved the dominance of the minority Alawite sect in a country with a Sunni Muslim majority. Assad's installation also preserved Syria's status as an ally of Iran, against Israel and the United States.

The Assad regime is characterized by civil war, fueled by the situation in Iraq and the crises in Lebanon. Things spiraled out of control in the Arab Spring of 2011, when Syrians demanded democracy and took to the streets.

Assad was described as an "animal" in 2018 by US President Donald Trump for using chemical weapons. He has denied these accusations. Assad has exceeded the expectations of many foreign leaders who believed his demise was imminent.

Early in the conflict, he lost some territory in Syria to rebels, but his regime was able to hold onto most of it… until now.

Bashar was not actually destined to be president. Hafez, his father, had raised his other son, Bassel, to succeed him in the role. When Bassel died in an accident in 1994, Bashar was transformed from an ophthalmologist in London, where he was studying, into Hafez's successor.

Bashar al-Assad's father, General Hafez al-Assad, took office on March 14, 1971, as the 14th President of Syria. He seized power at the age of 41 thanks to a bloody coup that overthrew Dr. Noureddin Al-Attassi.

After his father's death in June 2000, the Syrian parliament took just hours to amend the constitution to lower the presidential age from Assad's 40 to 34, allowing him to succeed his father over much opposition. Many observers in Europe and the United States seemed encouraged by the new president, who presented himself as a fresh, youthful leader who could usher in a more progressive and moderate regime.

After becoming president, Bashar al-Assad instituted several liberal reforms, describing them as the “Damascus Spring.” He released hundreds of political prisoners, took steps toward the West, and opened the economy to private companies.

His marriage to British-born banker Asma Akhras, with whom he has three children, helped fuel hopes that he could lead Syria onto a reformist path.

Asma Akhras and Bashar al-Assad

But in the political system he had inherited from his father, signs of change were quickly lost. The new leader immediately maintained his country's traditional ties to militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Opponents were imprisoned and economic reforms contributed to what US diplomats described in a cable published on Wikileaks as nepotism and parasitic corruption.

In May 2011, then-US President Barack Obama said that the Assad regime had "chosen the path of mass killings and arrests of its own citizens" and urged him to lead a democratic transition "or get out of the way".

Assad has been re-elected by a majority every seven years, most recently in 2021, in what the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy have called "sham elections".