Background

Bashar al-Assad was born in Damascus on September 11, 1965. He is the son of Anisa Makhlouf and Hafez al-Assad. Bashar al-Assad has two brothers and a sister.

Assad's paternal grandfather, Ali Sulayman al-Assad, changed his status from peasant to minor notable. In order to reflect this, he had changed the family name from Wahsh (meaning "Savage") to Al-Assad, that means "the Lion", in 1927. Bashar's father rose through the Ba'ath Party ranks to take control of the Syrian branch of the Party in the 1970 Corrective Revolution, culminating in his rise to the Syrian presidency.

Education

The first place, where Bashar studied, was an élite Arabic-French lyceum "Al Juria." In 1982, sergeant Bashar al-Assad went to study at the medical school of the University of Damascus with two specializations - therapeutics and ophthalmology. He graduated in 1988. He also did postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital, in London, from 1992 to 1994.

Career

Bashar al-Assad joined the military as an officer at the Medical Services Department in 1985. In 1988, he started working as an army doctor at the Tishreen Military Hospital. Bashar entered the military academy in Homs and was quickly promoted through the ranks to become colonel of the elite Syrian Republican Guard in 1999. During this time, he served as an advisor to his father, hearing complaints and appeals from citizens, and also led a campaign against corruption.

After Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, died in 2000, Assad was appointed Regional Secretary of the ruling Ba'th Party on June 24, 2000, and, two days later, the Party's Congress nominated him as its candidate for the presidency. The national legislature approved the nomination, and, on July 17, 2000, Assad was elected to a seven-year term. He was given the military rank of general and supreme commander of the Syrian Army. After that, he carried out some political reforms. In 2007, he was re-elected by a nearly unanimous majority for a second term as president. During his second term of presidency, he faced the consequences of the civil war, that started in Syria in 2011.

In late April 2014, Assad announced he would run for a third term in Syria's first multi-candidate direct presidential election in decades, amid serious concerns by the European Union, the United States and other countries, regarding the legitimacy of this vote and the effect it will have on peace talks with the Syrian Opposition. The American Syrian Accountability Project included Assad on a list of war crimes indictments of government officials and rebels in June 2014. However, Assad has rejected allegations of war crimes. He was sworn in for his third seven-year term, on July 16, 2014, in the presidential palace in Damascus. Assad continued his campaign against rebel forces.

Achievements

• Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician, who has been serving as President of Syria since July 17, 2000. He is famous for his authoritarian political methods, that he has been using during his presidency. Assad has survived seven years of war and refuses to step aside.
  
  Bashar al-Assad received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise in 2002. In 2008, he was awarded the Order of Zayed. Among his honors and awards are the Order of the White Rose of Finland, the Order of King Abdulaziz, the Order of the Liberator, the Order of the Southern Cross, the National Order of the Cedar and the Order of the Umayyads. Assad also was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I and the Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, but they were revoked and returned several years later.

Religion

Bashar al-Assad belongs to the Alawite sect.

Politics

Bashar al-Assad is considered a progressive and fair politician. For example, it was thanks to the young al-Assad, that Syria got Internet and mobile communications in 1998. Bashar al-Assad became a member of the Syrian Ba'ath Party in 2000. When he became President of Syria, he pursued a policy with a liberal bias. Bashar contributed to easing the regime and the emergence of political pluralism by supporting alternative political parties. Besides, he pardoned political criminals and announced the first print runs of an independent print publication. In 2005, he agreed to withdraw armed forces from neighboring Lebanon. He also helped to open up the first private banks and universities and established of the stock market.

When a political crisis began in Syria in 2011, the protest atmosphere in the country was heating up. That is why Bashar al-Assad annulled the constitutional provision, that enshrined the special position of the ruling Ba'ath party. He also ended Syria's state of emergency, which had been in place since 1963. He accepted the resignation of the government and created a new cabinet on March 29, 2011. However, that didn't stop the protests. Armed riots and anti-government protests began in the country. The decision to use the army to disperse the protesters led to the mass casualties among the opposition - by the end of May, according to various estimates, the number of victims among the dissenters exceeded one thousand. As the result the United States and European Union imposed sanctions against Syria.

Despite the discontent of the population, Bashal al-Assad managed to keep the presidency even after the 2014 elections. The greatest threat to his authority and stability in the country was the terrorist organization - the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. At the end of 2015, Bashar al-Assad officially appealed to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin for help. As the result by the end of 2017, Assad's dominance in most of Syria's major cities had been reestablished, and the remaining rebels had been confined to a few isolated pockets of territory. Assad began implementing policies to rebuild Syria. They included projects to build infrastructure and new commercial centres, as well as efforts to attract foreign investors. Assad also developed Law 10, that allowed the government to seize property if its owners failed to reregister it.

Views

During the time, that Bashar al-Assad spend in London, he became attracted to the Western style of living. He always wondered why Syria had not evolved in a similar way and he wished his country was more modernized. Assad was determined to push Syria into the 21st century and the world of computer technology, the Internet and cellular telephones.

Quotations: "There is no such things as "Islamic terrorism," because terrorism differs from Islam. There's just terrorism, not Islamic terrorism. But the term "Islamic terrorism" has become widespread."

"When we talk about "clean war," when there is no casualties, no civilians, no innocent people to be killed, that doesn't exist, no one could make it, no war in the world."

"We have more difficult circumstances, than most of the Arab countries, but in spite of that Syria is stable. Why? Because you have to be very closely linked to the beliefs of the people. This is the core issue."

"You cannot reform your society or institution without opening your mind."

Personality

As a child, Bashar al-Assad was quiet, reserved and had no interest in politics or military system. Now his friends say, that he keeps calm even in the most complex situations and some have criticised him for waiting too long. Many around him thought he should immediately address his people, when the current crisis broke out, but he thought it would be better to wait until things go back to normal.

Earlier, Bashar al-Assad was considered to be a respected politician in the West with a reputation of a Democrat and reformer. However, after the destabilization of the situation in the Middle East and the aggravation of the situation with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the overwhelming majority of the Western media started call him nothing less, than a "bloody dictator."

Quotes from others about the person

• Hillary Clinton: "There's a different leader in Syria now. Many of the members of Congress of both parties, who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he's a reformer."
  
  George Galloway: "For me he is the last Arab ruler, and Syria is the last Arab country. It is the fortress of the remaining dignity of the Arabs, and that's why I'm proud to be here."

Connections

Bashar al-Assad married Asma al-Assad in December 2000. The marriage produced three children.

Father:

Hafez al-Assad

Hafez al-Assad (October 6, 1930 - June 10, 2000) was a Syrian politician, who served as President of Syria from 1971 to 2000.

Mother:

Anisa Makhlouf

Anisa Makhlouf (1934 - February 6, 2016) was the First Lady of Syria from 1971 until 2000.

Brother:

Bassel al-Assad

Bassel al-Assad (March 23, 1962 - January 21, 1994) was a Syrian engineer, colonel and politician. He was a commander of a battalion in the Republican Guard and also served as head of presidential security.

Wife:

Asma al-Assad

Asma al-Assad (born August 11, 1975) is the First Lady of Syria. She created numerous organizations under the Syrian Trust for Development, the charity sector of the government.

Brother:

Maher al-Assad

Maher al-Assad (born December 8, 1967) is a Syrian general and commander of the Republican Guard and the army's elite Fourth Armoured Division.

Brother:

Majad Assad

Majad Assad (1966 - 2009) was an electrical engineer.

Sister:

Bushra Assad

Bushra Assad (born October 24, 1960) is the first child and only daughter of Hafez al-Assad. She moved to the United Arab Emirates and now lives in Dubai with her five children.

Son:

Hafez al-Assad

(born 2001)

Daughter:

Zein al-Assad

(born 2003)

Son:

Karim al-Assad

(born 2004)

References

• Commanding Syria: Bashar al-Asad and the First Years in Power This is the first major work on Bashar al-Asad. It assesses the durability of his father Hafiz's legacy, including the persistent influence of the old power-brokers, the effectiveness of Bashar's attempts to move away from his father's shadow and the prospects for reform.
  2007
• Syria under Bashar al-Asad: Modernisation and the Limits of Change This work provides a detailed examination of economic and political change in Syria and Syria's position in the Middle East. The author has a wide and in-depth knowledge of Syria, which has been gained from first-hand experience of its political scene and demonstrated in his previously published works.
  2004
• Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad The book recounts the causes of the Syrian uprising, the regime's tactics to remain in power, the responses of other nations to the bloodshed and the determined efforts of regime opponents. In a thoughtful conclusion, the author suggests scenarios, that could unfold in Syria's uncertain future.
  2012