"It is impossible to separate between the Assad regime and the security forces," added Khasan. "Actually, without the security forces, this regime would not be able to stay in power for a single day."
The Assads' ideology is secular, but the alliances have been with fellow Shi'ites, most notably Iran and the militant Lebanon-based Hezbollah. The backdrop they present is that the country is segmented, and faces threats from Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as its enemy Israel.
"People believed the stories that give the Assad regime legitimacy," said Nadhim Shehadeh, a Middle East and North Africa analyst at Chatham House. "And basically a dictatorship needs to prove that it is indispensable, that it is irreplaceable and that beyond it there is chaos that is very unimaginable, so that people could cling to it for all these reasons. And also, the creation of an atmosphere of fear also helps because it bonds all of these elements together."
The Israel narrative has been largely dormant since Syria lost the Golan Heights to its neighbor in 1967. But in recent days, it proved handy again, with the government allowing Palestinian refugees to cross through to the Golan boundary.
The U.S. called it a cynical move to distract attention from domestic unrest. Others argued it was also a reminder to Israel and its backers that the Assads, both father and son, left the Golan alone.
But how long can this system - forged in another era, when information was tightly controlled and the current uprisings sweeping the region seemed unimaginable - stay viable? London-based analyst Shehadeh believes there is a limit.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25