Write an essay analyzing the power transition that brought Bashar al-Assad to power. What were the factors that facilitated Bashar al-Assad to takeover after his father’s death? What were the burdens that he inherited? And what changes did he implement which eventually precipitated the 2011 revolt?
Succession and the Arab world’s only “republican dynasty”. Inheriting Syria: Bashar’s Trial by Fire. (Flint Leverett)
The Arab Spring and Syria’s civil war. Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War. (Robin Yassin-Kassab and Leila Al-Shami).