Al-Assad family

"Al-Assad" redirects here. For other uses, see al-Assad (disambiguation).

Al-Assad Family
عَائِلَة الْأَسَد
ʿāʾilat al-ʾAsad
The Assad family, c. 1993. Front: Hafez al-Assad and his wife, Anisa Makhlouf. Rear, left to right: Maher, Bashar, Bassel, Majid, and Bushra al-Assad.
Current regionLatakia
Place of origin Syria
MembersHafez al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad
Maher al-Assad
Rifaat al-Assad
Connected familiesMakhlouf, Shalish
TraditionsAlawites

The al-Assad family,[a] also known as the Assad dynasty,[1] is a Syrian political family that has ruled Syria since Hafez al-Assad became president of Syria in 1971 under the Ba'ath Party. After his death, in June 2000, he was succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad.[2][3][4][5]

The al-Assads are originally from Qardaha, Latakia. They belong to the Kalbiyya tribe.[6] The family name Assad goes back to 1927, when Ali Sulayman changed his last name to al-Assad, Arabic for "the lion", possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife Naissa, who came from a village in the Syrian Coastal Mountains.[7]

During his early reign in the 1970s, Hafez al-Assad created patronage networks of Ba'ath party elites figures loyal to his family. Members of Assad family established control over vast swathes of the Syrian economy and corruption became endemic in the public and private sectors.[8] After Hafez al-Assad's death, family connections continued to be important in Syrian politics. Several close family members of Hafez al-Assad also held vital positions in the government since his rise to power, an arrangement which exists to the present day.[9][10] Syrian bureaucracy and business-community are also dominated by members of the Assad dynasty and individuals affiliated with them.[11][12]

Hafez Al-Assad built his regime as a bureaucracy that was marked by a distinct cult of personality, uncharacteristic in modern Syrian history. Images, portraits, quotes and praises of Assad are displayed everywhere from schools to public markets and government offices; and Hafez al-Assad is referred as the "Immortal Leader" and the "al-Muqaddas (Sanctified One)" in official Assadist ideology. Hafez re-organised the Syrian society in militaristic lines and persistently invoked conspiratorial rhetoric on the dangers of foreign-backed plots abetted by fifth columnists and promoted the armed forces as a central aspect of public life. Following the death of Hafez, the personality cult was inherited by his son and successor Bashar al-Assad who is hailed by the party as the "Young Leader" and "Hope of the People". Highly influenced by the model of the North Korean Kim dynasty, official propaganda ascribes divine features to the Assad dynasty; and reveres the Assad patriarchs as the founding fathers of modern Syria.[13][14][15]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^
    • Ma’oz, Moshe (2022). "15: The Assad dynasty". In Larres, Klaus (ed.). Dictators and Autocrats: Securing Power across Global Politics. 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158: Routledge. pp. 249–263. doi:10.4324/9781003100508. ISBN 978-0-367-60786-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
    • "A Dangerous Dynasty: House of Assad". BBC Two. 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018.
    • Eyal Zisser (2004). "Bashar al-Asad and his Regime – Between Continuity and Change". Orient. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
    • Chulov, Martin (26 May 2021). "'Mob boss' Assad's dynasty tightens grip over husk of Syria". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021.
  2. ^ Eyal Zisser (2004). "Bashar al-Asad and his Regime – Between Continuity and Change". Orient. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  3. ^ Kmak, Björklund, Magdalena, Heta (2022). Refugees and Knowledge Production: Europe's Past and Present. 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN: Routledge. p. 73. doi:10.4324/9781003092421. ISBN 978-0-367-55206-0. S2CID 246668129.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Turku, Helga (2018). "3: Long-Term Security Repercussions of Attacking Cultural Property". The Destruction of Cultural Property as a Weapon of War. palgrave macmillan. p. 74. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57282-6. ISBN 978-3-319-57282-6.
  5. ^ Darke, Diana (2010). Syria (2nd ed.). Bradt Travel Guides. p. 311. ISBN 978-1-84162-314-6.
  6. ^ McConville, Patrick Seale with the assistance of Maureen (1990). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-520-06976-3. Kalbiya seale.
  7. ^ Martin Stäheli: Die syrische Außenpolitik unter Hafiz Assad, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07867-3; p. 40
  8. ^ M. Sadowski, Yahya (1987). "Patronage and the Ba'th: Corruption and Control in Contemporary Syria". Arab Studies Quarterly. 9 (4): 442–461. JSTOR 41857946 – via JSTOR.
  9. ^ Robin Wright (22 February 2008). "Sanctions on Businessman Target Syria's Inner Sanctum". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  10. ^ Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview" (PDF). Comparative Strategy. 25 (5): 380. doi:10.1080/01495930601105412. S2CID 154739379. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Changes to Syria's Business Elite Concentrates Wealth in Hands of Presidential Couple". The Syria Report. 15 November 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022.
  12. ^ Cornish, Khattab, Chloe, Asser (25 July 2019). "Syria's Assad puts pressure on business elite". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Halasa, Omareen, Mahfoud, Malu, Zaher, Nawara (2014). Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline. 26 Westbourne Grove, London W2 5RH, UK: Saqi Books. pp. 125, 147–156, 161. ISBN 978-0-86356-787-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Pipes, Daniel (1995). Syria Beyond the Peace Process. 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20036: Washington Institute for Near East Policy. pp. 6, 7, 13–17. ISBN 0-944029-64-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  15. ^ Shamaileh, Ammar (2017). Trust and Terror: Social Capital and the Use of Terrorism as a Tool of Resistance. 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA: Routledge. pp. 66, 70–72, 82. ISBN 978-1-138-20173-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)