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Bashar al-Assad is gone, and Russia and Iran have stepped back. But Israel, Turkey and the United States are carrying out airstrikes.
Dec. 10, 2024Updated 12:20 a.m. ET
Great powers have fought for centuries for influence in the territory known today as Syria, each seeing a prize in its strategic position, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River and beyond. That struggle continues today.
In Syria’s 13-year civil war, Iran, Russia and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah backed the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States, Turkey and other countries backed various rebel groups.
Now, after a lightning advance by rebels and the rapid-fire collapse of Mr. al-Assad’s government, great powers — albeit with different ones in ascendence — are jockeying for advantage within Syria’s borders. For the first time in years, the skies are empty of Syrian and Russian bombers — but airstrikes by Israel, Turkey and the United States continue.
Here is a look at the foreign countries that have been present in Syria — often operating through local allies — and what they stand to gain and lose from the end of the Assad regime.
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