Africa & Middle East

Syria

Political journey

Independent from France in 1946, Syria has been ruled by the Assad family since Hafez al-Assad’s 1970 coup. A 2011 uprising became a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions, drawing in Russia, Iran, Turkey and the United States. Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024 to a rebel offensive, and Ahmed al-Sharaa now leads a transitional government.

Syria today

Its current leader’s position on the ten Caucus dimensions.

💰EconomySlightly free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentCentered on environment
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsCentered on institutions
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismCentered on interventionism
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads Syria today

Portrait of Ahmed al-Sharaa

Ahmed al-Sharaa

President of Syria, 2025 to present

A former al-Qaeda and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham commander who led the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024, and has since sought sanctions relief and recognition.

Ahmed al-Sharaa sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: slightly free market and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority, strongly traditional on culture and strongly religious on religion. The profile is close to the middle on environment, institutions and interventionism.

Full profile of Ahmed al-Sharaa →

Political views closest to Syria’s leadership

National conservatismPrioritizes national sovereignty, cultural identity, tradition and firm borders.98%IslamismA broad family of movements that seek to organize politics and law around Islam, from…97%Social conservatismDefends the traditional family, religion and moral norms in law and society.95%Religious rightSeeks to shape law and politics by religious, often Christian, values.95%

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

YemenAfrica & Middle East99%SomaliaAfrica & Middle East99%Central African RepublicAfrica & Middle East98%ComorosAfrica & Middle East98%

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.