When I was buying coffee at a cafe owned by a Syrian man in the UK on Sunday, I asked him what he made of the news that longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad had been ousted from power. He responded optimistically that he and the 7 million Syrians that had fled throughout the country’s civil war were eager to return.
Assad and his family have reportedly fled to Russia, leaving Syrians free to roam through his presidential palace. They toppled statues of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, who also ruled the country with an iron fist.
But Syria is now fragmented into regions controlled by disparate armed factions that have enjoyed backing of varying degrees from Russia, Iran, Turkey, the US, the Gulf states and Israel. There will be continued support for each of these armed factions by these major international powers, which will be vying to ensure their regional interests are preserved.
