Illustration by Jaimee Haddad
On Dec. 8, 2024, after a thirteen-year war, the coalition led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham managed to overthrow a dictatorship that has been in power for more than half a century. Headed by the charismatic Ahmad al-Sharaa, the new government was tasked with ensuring the territorial integrity of a fragmented country, subject to contesting dynamics and centrifugal forces.The most urgent challenges seemed to be found on the peripheries: to the east, fighting remnants of jihadist cells affiliated with the Islamic State; to the north, gaining the allegiance of Kurdish authorities; to the south, containing Israel while gaining the support of Druze communities; and to the west, maintaining control of the Lebanese border and curbing the emergence of an Alawite bastion hostile to the new Damascus authorities.Said authorities took the seat of power...
On Dec. 8, 2024, after a thirteen-year war, the coalition led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham managed to overthrow a dictatorship that has been in power for more than half a century. Headed by the charismatic Ahmad al-Sharaa, the new government was tasked with ensuring the territorial integrity of a fragmented country, subject to contesting dynamics and centrifugal forces.The most urgent challenges seemed to be found on the peripheries: to the east, fighting remnants of jihadist cells affiliated with the Islamic State; to the north, gaining the allegiance of Kurdish authorities; to the south, containing Israel while gaining the support of Druze communities; and to the west, maintaining control of the Lebanese border and curbing the emergence of an Alawite bastion hostile to the new Damascus authorities.Said authorities took the seat of...
