Issue Brief on “Navigating (Un) known Waters? Russian Takeaways from the Situation in Syria”

Apocalypse Now

It was 27 November 2024 when multiple armed opposition groups started their offensive against the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria[1]. Their immediate success in taking Aleppo - a former economic capital and largest city in population - by 30 November[2] was shocking for the observers. However, the consensus was that official Damascus would survive that loss and strike back after necessary regroupings and reconsidering its strategy in dealing with familiar, but resurfaced challenges.

Although it took just a few days for many analysts to come up with their explanations of why the Syrian government experienced such a huge and fast defeat, they could hardly be confident that all the same reasons would not only lead to the loss of Aleppo, but to the overall regime collapse by 8 December 2024.[3]

Read More