Syria

7 Pages 1818 Words

Syria: Past, Present, and Future


Throughout history, leaders who have succeeded their fathers as heads of state have deviated from their parent’s policies, without however, abandoning their predecessors’ ultimate goals. President Bashar Al-Assad seems to be following this popular trend. Since the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, Basher has reformed many policies and has subsequently gained much public support from Syria’s previously dissatisfied citizens.

The Rise of Hafez al-Assad
After becoming an independent country, Syria’s first struggles were not far behind. The founding of Israel started a conflict that is still lingering in the Middle East today. Along with allied Arab armies, Syrians invaded Israel. The lack of military expertise and defeat against Israel led to the first of many Syrian conflicts beginning around 1948. During the 1950’s to early 1960’s there were frequent changes of government which were determined by military victories instead of political processes. On February 23, 1966 the extremist wing of the Ba’ath Party, known as Alawites, came to power. This was the beginning of the rise of Hafez al-Assad. (Hafez al-Assad)

Syria under the Reign of al-Assad
In 1971 the Ba’ath party merged under Assad and dramatically improved its relationships with the Soviet Union. In April of 1971 the Federation of Arab Republics was formed by Syria, Egypt, and Libya. Later in 1973 after a war with Israel, Syria regained some of its previously owned territory which increased Syrian moral drastically. In 1976, al-Assad sent troops to Lebanon, which is still under Syrian control today. (Middle Eastern Countries)
Toward the end of the 1970’s and into the early 1980’s, numerous attacks were directed at Assad which were religiously motivated. Most of these attacks were instigated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian government blamed Iraq and other disgruntled Palestinians for the attac...