Any discussion on the current state of affairs in the Middle East must include Syria and the role that nation plays in shaping the future of the region. Since 1970 when Hafez al-Assad rose to power following a military coup, Syria has been transformed from a politically chaotic minor player into a dominating political and military force in the region, a force capable of stamping the Syrian imprint upon the future development of the Arab world.
Assad has ruled Syria with an iron hand, often using brutal methods to quell dissidence within the country. Not content to rule over just his nation, Assad nurtures dreams of a Greater Syria that encompasses Jordan, Lebanon, and to all intents and purposes, what is now Israel. He has employed numerous tactics - terrorism, military invasion in the case of Lebanon, political assassination, kidnappings, and veiled threats - to achieve his goals. Indeed, it is said in Lebanon these days that one can't smoke a cigarette without Assad's permission.
Assad's ambition to realize a Greater Syria is aided by his ability to neutralize threats to his regime by such outside interests as the United States and Europe, something at which he has proven to be unusually adept. Syria is undoubtedly behind many of the kidnappings of American and European personnel in Lebanon and Assad has orchestrated their release at times of high international displeasure with his regime. As strategist Dainel Pipes has written, all Assad has had to do to blunt the ill will is release a hostage or two and let public opinion and media overkill in the West take its course. It is a method that has served his regime well and has kept Syria thus far from the harsh hand of American military retaliation, as opposed to
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