For the first time in 50 years, the question of how Syria will be governed is wide open. The end of the Assad family's rule is for many Syrians a moment of mixed joy and fear, of the total unknown.
The insurgency that swept President Bashar Assad out of power is rooted in Islamist jihadi fighters. Its leader says he has renounced his past ties to al-Qaida, and he has gone out of his way to assert a vision of creating a pluralistic Syria governed by civil institutions — not dictators and not ideology.
