Bashar al-Assad, the former president of Syria, was removed from power after over two decades when Syrian rebels took control of the capital, Damascus. He was part of a second-generation autocratic dynasty that ruled Syria for more than five decades.
Assad came to power in 2000 following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria since 1970 after rising from poverty to lead the Baath Party. Under Hafez’s regime, the Alawite minority, to which the Assads belong, gained key positions in the military, government, and society.
Bashar al-Assad was initially not expected to succeed his father. He trained as an ophthalmologist in London, but after his older brother Bassel’s death in a car accident in 1994, Bashar was brought back to Syria. He later trained in military science, eventually becoming a colonel in the Syrian Army.
After his father’s death in 2000, the Syrian parliament quickly amended the constitution, lowering the minimum presidential age to 34, allowing Bashar to take over as president. Assad ruled with an iron fist, overseeing a brutal regime that violently suppressed protests, leading to the Syrian Civil War in 2011. The conflict devastated the country, giving rise to the extremist group ISIS, causing international clashes, and triggering a refugee crisis.
Assad’s regime has been heavily criticized for severe human rights violations, including the use of chemical weapons against civilians. His response to the 2011 pro-democracy protests was violent, and the ensuing civil war continued for years, marked by widespread suffering and destruction.
