Presidency of Bashar al-Assad

In 1988, Assad graduated from medical school and began working as an army doctor at Tishreen Military Hospital on the outskirts of Damascus.{{cite news |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article2604469.ece |work=The Times |location=London |title=We are going to send him on a trip. Bye, bye Hariri. Rot in hell |date=22 October 2005 |access-date=14 December 2024 |first1=Richard |last1=Beeston |first2=Nick |last2=Blanford |archive-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214204537/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article2604469.ece |url-status=dead }} Four years later, he settled in London to start postgraduate training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital.{{sfn|Leverett|2005|p=60}} He was described as a "geeky I.T. guy" during his time in London.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/syria-peace-talks/how-syrias-geeky-president-assad-went-doctor-dictator-n453871 |title=How Syria's 'Geeky' President Went From Doctor to Dictator |work=NBC News |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222005409/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/syria-peace-talks/how-syrias-geeky-president-assad-went-doctor-dictator-n453871 |archive-date=22 December 2017 |url-status=live}} Bashar had few political aspirations,{{sfn|Minahan|2002|p=83}} and his father had been grooming Bashar's older brother Bassel as the future president.{{sfn|Tucker|Roberts|2008|p=167}} Bashar lacked interest in politics or the military unlike Bassel, his younger brother Maher, and second sister Bushra.{{sfn|Zisser|2007|p=21}}{{Cite journal |last=Bar |first=Shmuel |year=2006 |title=Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview |journal=Comparative Strategy |volume=25 |issue=5 |url=http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |publisher=The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy Institute for Policy and Strategy |pages=16, 379 |doi=10.1080/01495930601105412 |s2cid=154739379 |access-date=14 December 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723214138/http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011}}{{cite magazine |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/115993/bashar-al-assad-profile-syrias-mass-murderer |last=Ciezadlo |first=Annia |title=Bashar Al Assad: An Intimate Profile of a Mass Murderer |magazine=The New Republic |date=19 December 2013 |access-date=14 December 2014|archive-date=27 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327142240/https://newrepublic.com/article/115993/bashar-al-assad-profile-syrias-mass-murderer |url-status=live }} The Assad children reportedly rarely saw their father,{{Cite news |last=Khalaf |first=Roula |date=15 June 2012 |title=Bashar al-Assad: behind the mask |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/669da3aa-b5b5-11e1-ab92-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/669da3aa-b5b5-11e1-ab92-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=14 December 2024}} and Bashar later stated that he only entered his father's office once while he was president.{{cite news |last1=Belt |first1=Don |url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/syria/belt-text/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025083543/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/syria/belt-text/2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 October 2009 |newspaper=National Geographic |title=Syria |date=November 2009 |access-date=14 December 2014|pages=2, 9}}

On 21 January 1994, Bassel was driving his luxury Mercedes at a high speed through fog to Damascus International Airport for a privately chartered flight to Frankfurt, Germany, on his way to a ski vacation in the Alps in the early hours of the morning),{{cite book|title=The Pillars of Hercules, page 416|first=Paul|last=Theroux|isbn=978-0-14-025314-6|year=1996|publisher=Penguin books }}{{cite journal|last=Bell|first=Don|title=Shadowland|journal=National Geographic|date=November 2009|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2009/11/syria/belt-text|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027041614/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2009/11/syria/belt-text|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 October 2009|access-date=14 December 2024}}{{cite news|title=Basil Assad killed in car crash|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S7tSAAAAIBAJ&pg=6678,2406747&dq=bassel+assad&hl=en |newspaper=The Press Courier|date=21 January 1994|access-date=14 December 2024}} Bassel collided with a barrier and, not wearing a seatbelt, died instantly.{{cite news|last=Sipress |first=Alan|title=Assad's Son is Killed in a Car|url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-01-22/news/25823222_1_rifaat-assad-basil-assad-damascus-radio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830071308/http://articles.philly.com/1994-01-22/news/25823222_1_rifaat-assad-basil-assad-damascus-radio|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 August 2013|work=Inquirer|date=22 January 1994|access-date=14 December 2024}} Hafez Makhlouf was with him and was hospitalized with injuries after the accident; a chauffeur in the back seat was unhurt.

Soon after Bassel's death, Hafez al-Assad decided to make Bashar the new heir apparent.{{sfn|Zisser|2007|p=35}} Over the next six and a half years, until his death in 2000, Hafez prepared Bashar for taking over power. General Bahjat Suleiman, an officer in the Defense Companies, was entrusted with overseeing preparations for a smooth transition,{{Cite news |last=Gresh |first=Alain |date=July 2020 |title=Syria: the rise and rise of Doctor Bashar |work=Le Monde diplomatique |url=https://mondediplo.com/2000/07/07syria |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808142937/https://mondediplo.com/2000/07/07syria |url-status=live }} which were made on three levels. First, support was built up for Bashar in the military and security apparatus. Second, Bashar's image was established with the public. And lastly, Bashar was familiarised with the mechanisms of running the country.{{sfn|Leverett|2005|p=61}}

To establish his credentials in the military, Bashar entered the military academy at Homs in 1994 and was propelled through the ranks to become a colonel of the elite Syrian Republican Guard in January 1999.{{sfn|Zisser|2007|p=30}}{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/10/bn.01.html |title=CNN Transcript – Breaking News: President Hafez Al-Assad Assad of Syria Confirmed Dead |work=CNN|date=10 June 2000 |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-date=5 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005011806/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/10/bn.01.html |url-status=dead }} To establish a power base for Bashar in the military, old divisional commanders were pushed into retirement, and new, young, Alawite officers with loyalties to him took their place.{{sfn|Ma'oz|Ginat|Winckler|1999|p=41}}

In 1998, Bashar took charge of Syria's Lebanon file, which had since the 1970s been handled by Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, who had until then been a potential contender for president.{{sfn|Ma'oz|Ginat|Winckler|1999|p=41}} By taking charge of Syrian affairs in Lebanon, Bashar was able to push Khaddam aside and establish his own power base in Lebanon.{{sfn|Zisser|2007|pp=34–35}} In the same year, after minor consultation with Lebanese politicians, Bashar installed Emile Lahoud, a loyal ally of his, as the President of Lebanon and pushed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri aside, by not placing his political weight behind his nomination as prime minister.{{sfn|Blanford|2006|pp=69–70}} To further weaken the old Syrian order in Lebanon, Bashar replaced the long-serving de facto Syrian High Commissioner of Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan, with Rustum Ghazaleh.{{sfn|Blanford|2006|p=88}}

Parallel to his military career, Bashar was engaged in public affairs. He was granted wide powers and became head of the bureau to receive complaints and appeals of citizens, and led a campaign against corruption. As a result of this campaign, many of Bashar's potential rivals for president were put on trial for corruption.{{cite news |title=Ladno.ru |script-title=ru:Асад Башар : биография |trans-title=Bashar Assad: A Biography |url=http://www.ladno.ru/person/asad/bio/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018150441/http://ladno.ru/person/asad/bio/ |archive-date=18 October 2015 |access-date=14 December 2024 |newspaper=Ladno |language=ru}} Bashar also became the President of the Syrian Computer Society and helped to introduce the internet in Syria, which aided his image as a modernizer and reformer. Ba'athist loyalists in the party, military, and the Alawite sect were supportive of Bashar al-Assad, enabling him to become his father's successor.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10338256 |title=Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: Facing down rebellion |work=BBC News |date=21 October 2015 |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-date=11 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411120901/https://www.bbc.com/news/10338256 |url-status=live }}

File:TlassBashar.webp Mustafa Tlass alongside Bashar al-Assad, 1 August 2000. Tlass and his son Manaf Tlass later defected after the Syrian revolution.]]

File:AlAsssad2004 militaryuniform.jpg

After the death of Hafez al-Assad on 10 June 2000, the Constitution of Syria was amended. The minimum age requirement for the presidency was lowered from 40 to 34, which was Bashar's age at the time.{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rise-syrias-controversial-president-bashar-al-assad/story?id=46649146 |title=The rise of Syria's controversial president Bashar al-Assad |date=7 April 2017 |work=ABC News |access-date=14 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616193132/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rise-syrias-controversial-president-bashar-al-assad/story?id=46649146 |archive-date=16 June 2017 |url-status=live}} Assad contested as the only candidate and was subsequently confirmed president on 10 July 2000, with 97.29% support for his leadership. In line with his role as President of Syria, he was also appointed the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. A series of state elections were held every seven years which Assad won with overwhelming majority of votes. The elections are unanimously regarded by independent observers as a sham process and boycotted by the opposition.{{efn|Sources:{{cite news|date=28 May 2007|title=Syrians Vote For Assad in Uncontested Referendum|newspaper=The Washington Post|agency=Associated Press|location=Damascus|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701117.html|access-date=14 December 2024|archive-date=17 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717152244/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701117.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Yacoub Oweis|first=Khaleb|date=17 May 2007|title=Syria's opposition boycotts vote on Assad|work=Reuters|location=Damascus|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-vote-opposition-idUSOWE75174320070517|access-date=14 December 2024|archive-date=6 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406134644/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-vote-opposition-idUSOWE75174320070517|url-status=live}}Chulov, Martin (14 April 2014). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/apr/13/certainty-syria-election-assad-will-win "The one certainty about Syria's looming election – Assad will win"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621100122/https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/apr/13/certainty-syria-election-assad-will-win |date=21 June 2017 }} The Guardian.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6700021.stm |work=BBC News |title=Syria's Assad wins another term |date=29 May 2007 |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-date=5 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505061141/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6700021.stm |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/28/syria.ianblack |title=Democracy Damascus style: Assad the only choice in referendum |work=The Guardian |date=28 May 2007 |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-date=20 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420124315/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/28/syria.ianblack |url-status=live }}}}{{efn|Sources:{{Cite book|last=Cheeseman|first=Nicholas|title=How to Rig an Election|date=2019|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-24665-0|pages=140–141|oclc=1089560229}}{{Cite journal|last1=Norris|first1=Pippa|last2=Martinez i Coma|first2=Ferran|last3=Grömping|first3=Max|date=2015|title=The Year in Elections, 2014|url=https://sites.google.com/site/electoralintegrityproject4/projects/expert-survey-2/the-year-in-elections-2015|journal=Election Integrity Project|language=en|quote=The Syrian election ranked as worst among all the contests held during 2014.|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415091339/https://sites.google.com/site/electoralintegrityproject4/projects/expert-survey-2/the-year-in-elections-2015|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=Presidential and Legislative Elections|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190258658-e-23|last=Jones|first=Mark P.|editor3-first=Matthew S|editor3-last=Shugart|editor2-first=Robert J|editor2-last=Pekkanen|editor1-first=Erik S|editor1-last=Herron|date=2018|website=The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.001.0001|isbn=9780190258658|access-date=14 December 2024|quote=… unanimous agreement among serious scholars that... al-Assad's 2014 election... occurred within an authoritarian context.|archive-date=22 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122054620/https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190258658-e-23|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Makdisi|first=Marwan|title=Confident Assad launches new term in stronger position|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-assad-idUSKBN0FL0NN20140717|work=Reuters|date=16 July 2014|access-date=14 December 2024|archive-date=3 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903040841/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-assad-idUSKBN0FL0NN20140717|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-assad-idUSBREA3R0LH20140428?irpc=932 |title=Assad seeks re-election as Syrian civil war rages |work=Reuters |first1=Dominic |last1=Evans |date=28 April 2014 |access-date=14 December 2024}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27419552 |title=UK's William Hague attacks Assad's Syria elections plan |work=BBC News |date=15 May 2014 |access-date=14 December 2024|archive-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026161021/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27419552 |url-status=live }}}} The last two elections – held in 2014 and 2021 – were conducted only in areas controlled by the Syrian government during the country's ongoing civil war and condemned by the United Nations.{{cite news |date=28 May 2014 |title=Syrians in Lebanon battle crowds to vote for Bashar al-Assad |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/28/syrians-lebaanon-vote-assad-embassies-refugees-boycott |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-date=20 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320122744/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/28/syrians-lebaanon-vote-assad-embassies-refugees-boycott |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=16 July 2014 |title=Bashar al-Assad sworn in for a third term as Syrian president |website=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10970476/Bashar-al-Assad-sworn-in-for-a-third-term-as-Syrian-president.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10970476/Bashar-al-Assad-sworn-in-for-a-third-term-as-Syrian-president.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite news |last=Kossaify |first=Ephrem |date=22 April 2021 |title=UN reiterates it is not involved in Syrian presidential election |work=Arab News |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1846771/%7B%7B |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422181511/https://www.arabnews.com/node/1846771/middle-east |archive-date=22 April 2021}}

{{main|Fall of the Assad regime}}

On 27 November 2024, the Syrian opposition would launch an offensive against the Assad regime. On the 8 December the opposition groups captured Damascus.{{cite news |date=December 8, 2024 |title=Assad flees Syria as rebels seize Damascus |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a953b073-6694-4f1e-aa82-441be747dff3 |work=Financial Times |access-date=December 15, 2024}} The Fall of Damascus would lead to the collapse of the Assad regime and the end of his presidency.{{cite news|date=8 December 2024 |title=Why the Assad regime collapsed in Syria – and why so fast |url=https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20241208-why-the-assad-regime-collapsed-in-syria-and-why-so-fast |work=France 24 |access-date=15 December 2024}} Assad and his family then left the country to go to Moscow and were granted asylum by the Russian government.{{cite news |last=Gritten |first=David |date=December 8, 2024 |title=Bashar al-Assad and family given asylum in Moscow, Russian media say |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqx89reeevgo.amp |work=BBC News |access-date=15 December 2024}}

{{empty section|date=December 2024}}

{{empty section|date=December 2024}}

{{Main|Foreign policy of the Bashar al-Assad administration}}

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Blanford |first=Nicholas |title=Killing Mr Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511-202-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/killingmrlebanon00blan }}
• {{Cite book |last=Leverett |first=Flynt L. |title=Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial By Fire |publisher=Brookings Institution |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8157-5204-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/inheritingsyria00flyn }}
• {{Cite book |last1=Ma'oz |first1=Moshe |last2=Ginat |first2=Joseph |last3=Winckler |first3=Onn |title=Modern Syria: From Ottoman Rule to Pivotal Role in the Middle East |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |year=1999 |isbn=1-898723-83-4 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A–C |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-32109-2 }}
• {{Cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C. |last2=Roberts |first2=Priscilla |edition= |title=The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-85109-841-5 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Zisser |first=Eyal |title=Commanding Syria: Bashar Al-Asad And the First Years in Power |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84511-153-3 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:al-Assad, Bashar}}

Category:2000 establishments in Syria

Category:2024 disestablishments in Syria

Category:2000s in Syrian politics

Category:2010s in Syrian politics

Category:2020s in Syrian politics

Category:Presidencies of Syria

Category:Ba'athism

Presidency