Players in the Region and International Community Compete for Influence in Post-Assad Syria

December 11, 2024 TruthUSA

Assad’s fall delivers a major blow to Russia, Iran, and their regional allies, while Turkey and Israel hail a new era in a country ravaged by years of conflict.

Following the collapse of the Syrian regime on Dec. 8, regional and international actors are scrambling to consolidate their positions in a country riven by conflict for more than a decade.

According to experts, the biggest winners are Turkey and Israel—albeit for different reasons—while Russia, Iran, and the latter’s regional allies all appear to have suffered a major blow.

Many experts also believe that the sudden fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government could further destabilize an already volatile region.

“Civil unrest will continue in the near term,” Turkish political analyst Aydin Sezer told The Epoch Times. “Judging by the examples of Iraq and Libya, this new era will continue to generate risks. External factors will play a decisive role.”

Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois, also expressed concern that post-Assad Syria “could descend into chaos like Libya.”

“Syria is being Balkanized as we speak,” Boyle, author of “Destroying Libya and World Order,” told The Epoch Times.

Turkey, Kurdish YPG

Turkey severed relations with Damascus after the Syrian conflict first erupted in 2011. Since then, it has supported a host of groups devoted to ousting Assad and his government, now a fait accompli.