Syria War: Al-Assad's fall changed power relationships in the Middle East!

Syria War: Al-Assad's fall changed power relationships in the Middle East!

A dramatic upheaval in the Middle East: Turkiye triumphs, while Israel is worried about his security!

After 54 years of tyrannical rule, the regime of the Al Assad family in Syria is history! On December 8th, Bashar al-Assad fled his country and was looking for asylum in Russia. The fall of one of the most brutal regimes of modern history came after only 12 days of bitter struggles between the Syrian army and a coalition of opposition forces and ended the 13-year civil war in Syria.

The devastating consequences of this conflict are unmistakable: over 350,000 Syrians lost their lives and at least 13 million people were driven out. Brutal repression by the al-Assad regime converted a peaceful revolution into an internationalized civil war in which Russia, Iran, Turkiye and the USA were the main actors.

a geopolitical earthquake

The fall of the regime will fundamentally change the geopolitical map of the region! Syria, which had maintained diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union since 1944 and was the first Arab country to buy Soviet weapons, has forged decades of alliances. While other Arab countries were abandoning the Soviet influence in the 1970s, Hafez al-Assad remained a loyal allied moscow.

The decades of close ties to Iran, which began in 1979 with a permanent alliance, were strengthened by the common hostility against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The US invasion in Iraq in 2003 led to the two countries closer together to combat the American influence in the region.

The winners and losers

With the case of the al-Assad regime, Iran has lost a decisive pillar of his "Schia-Bogen". The country corridor, over which hezbollah armed and projected its influence in Lebanon and throughout Levante, has now been cut off. Iran's role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is also weakened because it has lost important means of negotiation. The Mullahs in Tehran must now withdraw or accelerate their efforts to build an atomic bomb in order to compensate for their dwindling influence.

Russia, on the other hand, lost power due to the fall of al-Assads. The loss of his only Arab ally has significantly damaged Moscow's reputation as a global power, which can have a say in the matters of the Middle East. Although Russia can keep its air force base in Hmeimim and the naval base in Tartous, its ongoing presence in Syria is no longer wearable.

But Turkiye emerges as a radiant winner from the 14-year civil war! It has undermined the position of its rivals and can now influence a territorial corridor that connects Europe and the Golf via Syria. The United States and the EU cheer on the fall of the Al Assad regime, as they see this as a severe blow to their arch enemies Russia and Iran. The European countries hope that this development can help to solve their refugee crises by voluntarily returning to their country.

The news of the al-Assad case was recorded in Israel with mixed feelings. On the one hand, one is happy about the weakening of the alliance led by Iran, which could strengthen Israeli dominance in the Levant area. But the Israeli government is uncomfortable about what comes next. The new political power in Damascus could show stronger solidarity with the Palestinians. Therefore, the Israeli army started massive air strikes on all of Syria to destroy the country's strategic weapons reserves for fear that they could be used against Israel.

The case of al-assads and the resulting regional realignment will dramatically change the balance of power in the Middle East. We will only understand the full effects in the coming years!