What kind of Syria is the new government trying to build? And what challenges is it facing?
After nearly 14 years of civil war, Syria is trying to turn the page on its past.
It has been a year since Ahmed al-Sharaa’s now-defunct armed group walked into Damascus to little resistance.
Bashar al-Assad, whose family had been in power since 1970, had already fled to Moscow.
Crowds cheered the end of a dictatorship, and political prisoners walked out of the most notorious jails in the country, shocked at their own freedom.
But the optimism of that day has now given way to the realities of transition – sectarian tensions, grinding poverty and demands for justice over atrocities carried out by the Assad regime.
So, can the new government bring real change and unity to Syria? And what can be learned from the steps it has taken so far?
Presenter: Dareen Abughaida
Guests:
Haid Haid – researcher at Chatham House
Ammar Kahf – executive director at Omran Center for Strategic Studies.
Heiko Wimmen, project Director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at the International Crisis Group
Published On 7 Dec 2025
