After almost 14 years of civil war in Syria, things finally happened very quickly. Within a few days, the Syrian rebels of the HTS and their allies overthrew the hated dictator Bashar al-Assad. For more than five decades, his family had turned the country into a brutal dictatorship. Now: people in Syria and in exile are cheering. Almost half of Syrians were on the run, both at home and abroad. And HE is the face of victory: Ahmed al-Shaara. Once an Al-Qaeda terrorist; now celebrated as a liberator. Can he unite a country that is internally divided and has long been the plaything of powerful nations in the region such as Turkey, Israel, Iran and Russia? We ask: "After Assad's fall: What's next for Syria?" Our guests: Kristin Helberg, Middle East expert who worked for many years as a freelance correspondent in Damascus before the Syrian civil war Maissun Melhem, Syrian journalist + colleague in the Arabic editorial department of DW Ali Fatollah-Nejad, German-Iranian political analyst, founder and director of the Center for Middle East and Global Order Chapter 00:00 Moment of euphoria for many Syrians, moment of liberation 03:15 Still enthusiasm in Syria, but also the desire for revenge and vigilantism 04:30 Historic moment; geopolitical reorganization in the region 05:40 Turning point, especially for a weakened Iran 07:10 The civilian population played a very large role in the fall 07:50 Nobody was prepared to fight to keep Assad in power 09:00 VIDEO: What kind of state does HTS want? 10:20 HTS leader Al Shara has sent different signals to all sections of the population 12:15 Al Shara: Will he be the new strong man or a new dictator? 13:20 Is a new Syrian Islamism coming? 15:20 Iran is the big loser and will play a very minor role in Syria in the future 17:10 HTS and Kurds in Syria must cooperate so that the country does not disintegrate 18:50 Turkey's interests 21:30 Role of the new Trump administration for the future of Syria 22:40 If the Americans withdraw from Syria: Danger that IS could then become stronger 24:00 VIDEO: Chance for a democratic Syria? 25:50 What are the chances of turning Syria into a democracy? 29:10 Germany has dealt with two dictatorships. A model for Syria? 30:00 A civil society must first find itself in order to rebuild the country 31:15 "The heads of the regime" must be held accountable 33:40 The developments in Syria: A signal for the whole region? 34:30 Democratization in Syria could trigger a new Arab Spring 37:00 International organizations have failed in Syria 38:30 EU could appoint Syria envoy, Germany already has one 39:00 Negative signals from Germany with debate about "deportation plans" for Syrians 40:30 HTS has ruled in Idlib in a very pragmatic but also Islamist manner 41:45 A federal system for Syria? #Syria #Assad #OnPoint You can find more background information and analyses on the 2025 federal election on our topic page: https://www.dw.com/de/bundestagswahl-... Subscribe to DW Deutsch: http://www.youtube.com/user/deutschew... More news at: https://www.dw.com/de/ DW on social media: ►Facebook: / dw.german ►Twitter: / dw_deutsch ►Instagram: / dwnews