During the first 25 years of its existence, until Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970, the Syrian republic was a weak unstable state, an arena in which regional and international rivalries were played out.  The first Assad reversed this state of affairs by turning Syria into a comparatively stable and powerful state, a player in regional and international politics. 

This was part of the unwritten pact between the regime and Syria’s urban population.  Stability, prestige and a leading role in Arab nationalist “resistance” (to the United States and Israel) made up for the regime’s authoritarianism and corruption, and the hegemony of the minority Alawite sect. 

The outbreak of the revolt against the regime last March marked the end of this unwritten contract, and pushed Syria back to its pre-1970 state.  It is once again an arena of regional and international rivalries, reflecting the changes that are transforming the region’s politics. 

The Syrian revolt is, of course, primarily a struggle between the regime — now led by Assad’s son Bashar — and its domestic foes over the nature and character of the Syrian state.  But it is equally significant as a war by proxy between Iran and its rivals.