Alone at the Top: Bashar al-Assad and the Struggle for Syria

Bashar al-Assad emerges from the quagmire of Syria’s civil war as the man who carries the entire weight of the Syrian regime on his back, who stands starkly alone at the top, and who makes fateful decisions affecting him and Syria by himself. It seems that never before has the identification of the Syrian regime with its leader been as pronounced as it is today. The Syrian regime’s success in surviving the revolution is also – and especially – the personal success of Bashar al-Assad. Bashar has shown resilience and personal fortitude as well as lasting power not many believed he possessed. When he assumed the presidency the assertion often made was that he lacked the killer instinct, a necessity for anyone trying to rule Syria. But Bashar has emerged as an icy dictator willing to sacrifice an entire nation for the sake of his own survival.