On 08 December 2024, the longstanding regime of the Assad family came to an end. The Syrian regime is one of the last regimes to fall after several others in the last 30 years following the end of the Cold War. The fall of Bashar al-Assad, the son of Hafiz al-Assad, came faster than anyone expected, but not as a surprise to those who follow the Middle East geopolitical landscape. The war in Gaza, the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the near-complete destruction of the Syrian state—economically and socially—aggravated by draconian sanctions imposed by the USA and its Western allies, all contributed to the dramatic fall of the regime. It was surprising how the rebels, HTS, and other factions...