What's next for Syria after Assad, with Beirut-based journalist Kim Ghattas

Photo illustration of Bashar al-Assad’s torn portrait, symbolizing the fractured state of Syria and the collapse of his regime and GZERO World with ian bremmer - the podcast

Listen: How did Syria’s government rule with an iron fist for five decades, only to collapse in two weeks? And after 14 years of bloody civil war, why was now the moment that a frozen war exploded into the global spotlight? The cost Syrians have already paid is greater than any nation could reasonably be expected to bear. Since 2011, more than 500,000 Syrians have died, including 200,000 civilians, and nearly six million refugees flooded neighboring Arab States and some European nations, most notably Germany.

But what comes next? Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does geopolitics. Iran, Russia, Israel, the Gulf states, and the United States all have vested interests in Syria's future, a country that this week's GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast guest calls "the crown jewel" of proxy influence in the Middle East. Here to help make sense of these shocking past few weeks and the potential power vacuum to come is Middle East expert and Beirut-based journalist Kim Ghattas.

Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

More from GZERO Media

Economic Outlook 2025 reveals the trends and shifts that will shape the global economy in the coming year, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute. The report explores a few key economic themes, leveraging Mastercard’s aggregated and anonymized data to provide a unique perspective. This includes cyclical changes – such as shifts in consumption as central banks lower rates or prices change – and structural changes like the impact of migration on capital flows or workplace flexibility driving greater female workforce engagement.

- YouTube

The last time Syrians sought to oust the Bashar Assad regime, the ensuing crackdown sparked a 14-year-long civil war, killing over 500,000 Syrians and creating nearly six million refugees. So why did things change this time? Ian Bremmer explains.

A 24-hour Yonhapnews TV broadcast at Yongsan Railway Station shows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivering a speech at the Presidential Office in Seoul. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, defended his botched martial law declaration, as an act of governance and denied insurrection charges facing him, while vowing to fight until the last moment against whether it is impeachment or a martial law probe.
Kim Jae-Hwan / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol looks highly likely to be impeached on Saturday after the leader of his own party on Thursday told members to vote according to their “conviction and conscience.”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan poses with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed following a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, December 11, 2024.
Murat Kula/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced a critical agreement to end a yearlong dispute over Ethiopia’s access to the Arabian Sea.

Press conference about Romania and Bulgaria, former Soviet Bloc countries becoming EU members.
REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

For Romania and Bulgaria, former Soviet Bloc countries that are now EU members, the light finally changed from red to green on Thursday as EU interior ministers agreed to let the two countries fully join the border-free Schengen zone on Jan. 1.

U.S. President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President-elect Donald Trump has extended an unprecedentedinvitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025.

Luisa Vieira

GZERO Publisher Evan Solomon responds to comments made by two of our top 2024 game changers, Donald Trump and Elon Musk, about cutting foreign aid. “A dramatic turn to US isolationism in a world of crisis,” Solomon writes, “would be a troubling, game-changing trend that would only make the US more vulnerable.”