Late last year, Syrian opposition forces captured Damascus and put an end to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian dictator, whose family had ruled the country for more than 50 years, fled to Moscow. Across the country, Syrians celebrated.

Assad’s fall exposed the brutality of his regime, including gruesome discoveries in government prisons, tens of thousands of disappeared people, and mass displacement. But the group that replaced it also has a record of violence—and a former affiliation with al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Welcome to Counterpoint. Each week, we look at one pressing question facing world leaders—from two opposing points of view. Today, we’re tackling the question: Is Syria on a path to realizing the hopes of the revolution?

With us to make the case for viewing Syria’s new government with skepticism is David Adesnik, the vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Arguing that Syrians are capable of securing a democratic future for themselves is Alia Malek, a journalist, former civil rights lawyer, and the author of The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria.

Counterpoint is hosted by Sasha Polakow-Suransky, a deputy editor at Foreign Policy. The show is a production of Foreign Policy, in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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