{"id":133394,"date":"2024-12-12T12:14:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T17:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=133394"},"modified":"2024-12-12T17:57:32","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T22:57:32","slug":"economist-cover-how-the-new-syria-might-succeed-or-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=133394","title":{"rendered":"(Economist Cover) How the new Syria might succeed or fail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that Mr Assad has fled to Moscow, the question is where will liberation lead. In a part of the world plagued by ethnic violence and religious strife, many fear the worst<\/a>. The Arab spring in 2010-12 taught that countries which topple their dictators often end up being fought over or dominated by men who are no less despotic. That is all the more reason to wish and work for something better in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no denying that many forces are conspiring to drag the country into further bloodshed. Syria is a mosaic of peoples and faiths carved out of the Ottoman empire. They have never lived side by side in a stable democracy. The Assads belong to the Alawite minority, which makes up about 10-15% of the population. For decades, they imposed a broadly secular settlement on Syrian society using violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syria\u2019s people have many reasons to seek vengeance. After 13 years of civil war in a country crammed with weapons, some factions will want to settle scores; so will some bad and dangerous men just released from prison. Under the Assads\u2019 henchmen, many of them Alawite and Shia, Sunnis suffered acts of heinous cruelty, including being gassed by chlorine and a nerve agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syria\u2019s new powerbrokers<\/a> are hardly men of peace. Take the dominant faction in the recent advance. Until 2016 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS<\/small>) was known as Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. Its founder, Ahmad al-Sharaa<\/a>, had fought the Americans as a member of Islamic State (IS<\/small>) in Iraq under the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Jolani. HTS <\/small>and Mr Sharaa swear they have left those days behind. If, amid the chaos, such groups set out to impose rigid Islamic rule, foreign countries, possibly including the United Arab Emirates, will bankroll other groups to take up arms against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a> (registration or subscription).<\/p>

The fall of a tyrant must be celebrated. And while Syria faces great uncertainty, a nation exhausted by war could yet choose the long road towards peace. Here is how https:\/\/t.co\/RMkRxpiWW8<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/nWqNYtt8Nx<\/a><\/p>— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 12, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>