Can Syria avoid another slide into autocracy? : Consider This from NPR

A torn portrait of Bashir al-Assad, that appears to have been arranged, is seen inside the Presidential Palace on December 10, 2024 in Damascus, Syria. Parts of the palace were ransacked in recent days as rebel forces in Syria seized the capital from longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country to Russia. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

Getty Images/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Getty Images/Getty Images

A torn portrait of Bashir al-Assad, that appears to have been arranged, is seen inside the Presidential Palace on December 10, 2024 in Damascus, Syria. Parts of the palace were ransacked in recent days as rebel forces in Syria seized the capital from longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country to Russia. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

Getty Images/Getty Images

The brutal regime of Bashar al Assad fell over the weekend with dizzying speed. Syrians within the country and around the world burst into celebration.

Now, the rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al Sham, or HTS has to govern. They are designated a terrorist organization by the US.

And some worry that HTS could slide into it’s own kind of autocratic regime.

That fear is not unfounded. Across the Middle East and North Africa, many revolutions have overthrown autocrats, only for those countries to descend back into chaos or a more oppressive rule.

The Syrian revolution began amid a wave of uprisings in the region that led to new, undemocratic regimes. Can Syria avoid a similar fate today?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

This episode was produced by Marc Rivers and Michael Levitt, with additional reporting from Rob Schmitz and Juana Summers.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.