Bashar al-Assad

Born in Syria in 1965, Bashar al-Assad studied and later became a doctor which was his dad's intended profession, had it not been for the family's low income and the high tuition costs of medical school. He specialised in ophthalmology (medical field in the treatment of eye disorders) and was working in London, England where he had met his wife when he was summoned to Syria following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad in June 2000. He officially became President of Syria In July 2000. The start of his regime in Syria appeared to be more of a reform than maintaining the status quo. However, this ended up being nothing more than a mirage. The former eye doctor committed human rights abuses and crimes against humanity like his dad. Media in Syria was still censored, and there was also a cult of personality dedicated to Bashar to show himself as a positive figure for the Syrian state. It was simply business as usual, only the manager had changed.

The bulk of Bashar's regime occurred during the War On Terror which was enacted by the United States following the destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York in September 2001. Syria's neighbours of Iran and Iraq were part of what U.S. President George W Bush described as an Axis of Evil alongside North Korea. Bashar did not approve of the American led Invasion of Iraq in 2003, and he even sheltered Ba'athist supporters from Iraq and even allowed volunteers to fight the Americans through Syria. As a result, American occupied Iraq suspended any oil supplies to Syria. Bashar's government was supported by Russia as well as Iran and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Another major event that took up the bulk of Bashar's regime in Syria was the Syrian Civil War that happened during the Arab Spring movement of 2011. It started off with reform protests in Deraa on the 15th March 2011, which was met with repression and brutality. Once some elements of the Syrian Army joined the protesters, the fighting grew into a full on vicious civil war. The war would last for 13 years and by 2015, almost eleven million people had been forced to leave their homes. Once again, Bashar was supported by Russia, courtesy of their kleptocratic leader, Vladimir Putin. Bashar also had to deal with ISIS or the Islamic State, as well as US backed Kurdish forces who were also fighting against ISIS within the country. A buffer area was also created along Syria's northern border to protect itself from Kurdish forces by Turkey in 2018. As the war turned ten years old, the government controlled most of the country, while the Kurds controlled an area in the north, while the Islamic State was largely destroyed and millions of Syrians were displaced throughout and outside of the country.

In late 2024, Turkish backed opposition forces overtook look most of the country before finishing in Damascus. The takeover of Damascus saw the long awaited fall of the Assad regime and end to the civil war. Bashar fled to Moscow in Russia, where he now resides. Syria, however, still has to deal with several clashes, including an invasion in the south by the IDF as well as border clashes with Lebanon and further ethnic conflict.