Bashar al-Assad came to power in July 2000. The first faux Arab Spring protests started in Feb 2011. So what was Syria like for those 11 years? First, during that period, there were no big protests, rebellions, revolutions or civil wars in Syria. Syria was peaceful, secular and quite prosperous under Assad. Sunnis, Shiites, Jews, Christians and … Continue reading What was Syria like under Assad from 2000 to 2010?