But then as they sort of began to sweep south along this strategic M5 highway that links Aleppo and Damascus,

I think every, it kind of ignited something.

Turns out that even in supposedly pro-regime parts of the country, very few people were willing

to sacrifice anymore. You know, we're looking at somebody that was able to shed a group like

Al-Qaeda, remain alive, and not just remain alive, but take over Damascus.

Hey, welcome back to the Modern War Institute podcast, brought to you with the generous

support of the West Point Class of 1974.

I'm John Amble, and on this episode, we're talking about the pretty remarkable events

that have unfolded in the past few weeks in Syria.

For well over a decade, the regime of Bashar al-Assad managed to hold onto power during

a civil war that has pitted a number of rebel groups against the regime and has been marked

by the intervention of an array of external actors, some like Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, on

Assad's side, and others on the side of the rebels.

And then, after a lightning offensive by rebels that seized a series of Syrian cities and

ultimately led them to Damascus, Assad was gone, and more than a half century of rule by his

family came to an end. To explore how that happened and what comes next, I'm joined on this

episode by Natasha Hall, a senior fellow with the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic

and International Studies with deep expertise on Syria. Before we get to the discussion, a couple

quick notes. First, a very special thank you to the West Point class of 1974 for their generous support to MWI.

And second, as always, what you hear in this episode are the views of the participants and don't represent those of West Point, the Army, or any other agency of the U.S. government.

All right, here's my conversation with Natasha Hall.

Natasha, thank you so much for joining me on this episode of the MWI podcast.

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