For much of the past decade, Assad’s regime, bolstered by unwavering support from Iran and Russia, brutally suppressed dissent. What began as an uprising in 2011 evolved into a devastating civil war that eventually settled into an uneasy stalemate.

Now, after the collapse of the Assad regime, people have begun returning home, including BBC Arabic's Feras Killani, who grew up there with his family, before they left in 2013.

With Syria’s long civil war over and many countries hoping that Syrian refugees return home, the path forward is not so simple. Syria still lacks many basic resources and poverty is high. David Miliband,

Will he walk the walk and not just talk the talk? And if he doesn’t win in the elections, will he peacefully stand aside for whoever does win?” one analyst said.

The Middle Eastern country had been ruled by outside powers and dictators for centuries before its revolution was realized.

The toppling of Bashar Assad has raised tentative hopes that Syrians might live peacefully and as equals after a half century of authoritarian rule.

"I believe there will be violent fighting, the end of which we do not know," a top Syrian Democratic Council official told Newsweek.

The White House expressed growing concerns about the ISIS resurgence in Syria. It comes as the Biden administration is taking a final diplomatic push in the Middle East before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

When his Russian bosses and the mercenaries protecting them finally left, Homam Kasouha walked into the plant’s head office and did something he had yearned to do for years.

Years of strife ruined the energy sector, battered the currency and strangled growth. The West must ease financial controls to help the economy, experts say.

U.S. officials announced they conducted an airstrike on Syrian soil that killed two ISIS members, including a top official.