What does al-Sharaa's rise to power mean for Syria? Given his surprise takeover, how will today’s CIA analysts be changing the way they think about the country and what happens next? Will Syria be the next Libya?

Join Rory and Alastair as they discuss Syria’s rapidly shifting political landscape with former CIA analyst and The Rest Is Classified co-host David McCloskey, who spent almost a decade covering Syria from Langley and Damascus, both before and during the Syrian civil war.

The Rest Is Politics is powered by Fuse Energy. Fuse are giving away FREE TRIP+ membership for all of 2025 to new sign ups 🎉 TRIP+ gets you ad-free listening, discounts, and early access to episodes and pre-sale tickets for live shows! To sign up and for terms and conditions, visit GetFuse.com/Politics ⚡

TRIP Plus: Become a member of The Rest Is Politics Plus to receive early access to Question Time episodes to live show tickets, enjoy ad-free listening for both TRIP and Leading, receive our exclusive newsletter, benefit from discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, and join our members’ chatroom on Discord. Just head to therestispolitics.com to sign up, or start a free trial today on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/therestispolitics.

Get our exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ nordvpn.com/restispolitics It's risk-free with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee ✅

Instagram: @restispolitics

Twitter: @RestIsPolitics

Email: restispolitics@gmail.com

Assistant Producer: Evan Green

Social Producer: Jess Kidson

Producers: Nicole Maslen, Fiona Douglas

Senior Producer: Dom Johnson

Head of Content: Tom Whiter

Exec Producers: Tony Pastor, Jack Davenport

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

128: Voting Early And Often On The West Wing