Reckoning in Syria: Bashar al-Assad's ouster adds to West Asian tumult

al-Assad's overthrow was the result of the distractions of his chief backers, the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah and Russian President Vladimir Putin

With Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s precipitate flight to Moscow less than 15 days after rebels led by a breakaway al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army overran the country, geo-politics in West Asia has grown more complex and tumultuous than ever. Despite the celebrations in Damascus over the end of al-Assad’s 24-year rule following 13 years of civil war, it is by no means clear whether stability will return to this country of 25 million people, 90 per cent of whom live below the poverty line. Its two mainstays of agriculture and oil, which