On December 8, Syrian rebels took control of Damascus, the nation’s capital. Deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, marking the end of a long civil war and his 24-year-long brutal reign, which followed his father’s nearly 30-year rule. Syrians are rightfully celebrating, even as they’re freeing people from notorious regime prisons and looking to transition away from decades of repression. Steven Heydemann, a nonresident senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy here at Brookings and the Ketcham Chair of Middle East studies at Smith College, talks about the implications of Assad’s fall for the region and the world.

Show notes and transcript: 

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/whats-next-for-syria-and-the-region-after-assads-fall/

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