Syrian rebel fighters celebrate the fall of the regime in the central city of Homs on Dec. 8, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Haj Kadour/AFP)
Ten days. That is how long it took the rebels, led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to topple Syria from the "Butcher of Damascus". One after the other, the country's key cities have been wrested from Bashar al-Assad's hands. First Aleppo, then Hama, then Homs, right down to the last domino: The capital Damascus. Against all expectations, and probably caught off guard, the Syrian army hardly flinched. Carole André-Dessornes, geopolitologist and researcher at the Fondation for Strategic Research(FRS), specializes in power relations in the Middle East and shared her insights into this unexpected surrender.After the first clashes in the heart of Aleppo on Nov. 30, the rebels seized key towns across the country, one after the other, without ever encountering resistance from the Syrian army. How can we explain the regime's "capitulation"?What...
Ten days. That is how long it took the rebels, led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to topple Syria from the "Butcher of Damascus". One after the other, the country's key cities have been wrested from Bashar al-Assad's hands. First Aleppo, then Hama, then Homs, right down to the last domino: The capital Damascus. Against all expectations, and probably caught off guard, the Syrian army hardly flinched. Carole André-Dessornes, geopolitologist and researcher at the Fondation for Strategic Research(FRS), specializes in power relations in the Middle East and shared her insights into this unexpected surrender.After the first clashes in the heart of Aleppo on Nov. 30, the rebels seized key towns across the country, one after the other, without ever encountering resistance from the Syrian army. How can we explain the regime's...