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January 20th, 2025 | 2:07 AM ET

In Syria Rebellion, Questions for Assad, the US and the Middle East

A sudden threat to the Assad regime is one more seismic moment for the region

DEEP DIVE
Anti-government fighters brandish their guns as they ride a vehicle in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on November 30, 2024. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP via Getty Images)
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Posted: December 5th, 2024

By Elaine Shannon

Elaine Shannon, contributing editor at The Cipher Brief, is a former correspondent for Time and Newsweek. Her latest book is Hunting LeRoux (Harper Collins, 2019).

DEEP DIVE — Even by the standards of the Middle East, it’s been a volatile and violent year – from Gaza to Lebanon to the unprecedented direct strikes by Iran and Israel against one another. One nation in the region where stability seemed assured was Syria – given the strong grip Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has kept on his enemies. 

That grip looks suddenly fragile, after a rebel group seized Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, on November 27. The rebels have since advanced on other population centers and entered the strategic city of Hama on Thursday, threatening the regime in ways that haven’t been seen in years. 

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