The Intelligence from The Economist Transitional injustice: Syria one year after Assad
23 snips
Dec 8, 2025 
Gareth Brown, a Middle East correspondent, discusses the fragile balance in Syria post-Assad: newfound freedoms and rising sectarian tensions. He also highlights the government's neglect of transitional justice and concerns over centralization of power. Carla Suborana, a news editor focused on Latin America, reveals the rise of sex tourism and trafficking, driven by drug gangs exploiting vulnerable migrants. She explains how these crimes are meticulously orchestrated and the challenges in combating them, shedding light on a dark underbelly of exploitation in both regions.
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Freedom Without Economic Relief
- Syria gained freedoms many feared would vanish after Assad's fall, like freer speech and reduced secret-police arrests.
- But those gains sit alongside economic hardship, unemployment, and little reconstruction, making daily life harder for many Syrians.
New Centralised Power Structures
- Ahmad Shahra is centralising power by creating new offices that bypass traditional ministries and public oversight.
- These shadow bodies risk becoming a new authoritarian apparatus despite the country's recent liberation.
Sectarian Hangover Fuels Violence
- Sectarian tensions, long suppressed, are resurfacing particularly around the Alawite community, risking cycles of revenge violence.
- Political exclusion of minorities feeds disenchantment and could catalyse insurgency if not addressed.