Syria's Spring of Reconstruction: 100 Days After Assad's Fall, What Has Changed?

Spring Has Arrived, but Syria Is Still in Winter

People are gathering again in Damascus's Umayyad Square these days. People who were too afraid to even step outside during 13 years of civil war cautiously sit at cafe terraces, and children run in parks. Approximately 100 days since the Assad regime collapsed in December 2024. Syria on the map has clearly changed, but Syria on the ground is still questioning. "Is this freedom real?"

Post-Assad Syria: Where Is It Now?

In late November 2024, forces led by the rebel coalition HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) captured Aleppo in a lightning strike and took the capital Damascus in just two weeks. The 50-year Assad dynasty fell just like that. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, and the world watched with a mixture of shock and relief.

Ahmad al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani), who became the transitional government head, promised an "inclusive Syria." But the international community cannot easily forget his past — his history as the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked organization. The US and EU have partially eased sanctions but remain far from full normalization.

Currently, Syrian territory is divided among three major forces:

• Transitional Government (Damascus): Central-western core regions
• Kurdish Autonomous Government (SDF): Northeast, east of the Euphrates
• Turkish-backed forces: Northern buffer zone

Whether these three axes can coexist without clashing is the hottest challenge facing Syria in 2026.

The Numbers of Reconstruction, and Reality

The World Bank estimates Syria's reconstruction costs at a minimum of $400 billion — an astronomical figure. Over 6 million refugees remain scattered across Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Europe. More than half the infrastructure has been destroyed, and the economy is essentially starting from zero.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have signaled reconstruction investment interest, and Turkey has already consolidated its influence in the north. Iran, having lost its pro-Assad infrastructure, is contemplating a restructuring of its "Axis of Resistance" across the Middle East. Syria is a geopolitical chessboard that no country can afford to ignore.

Domestically, Druze, Alawite, and Christian minorities are watching the new government with cautious eyes. "Will there be a place for us?" How the transitional government answers this question is the true starting point of reconstruction.

Films and Dramas About the Middle East

The work that captured Syria's suffering in its rawest form is undoubtedly "For Sama" (2019). A true-story documentary of a doctor couple who gave birth to and raised their daughter Sama amid the Aleppo siege, it won the Golden Eye Award at Cannes. The hospital scenes amid bombardment remain seared into many people's minds. Of course, this tells a story from a different time than the spring sunshine now reaching Damascus, but the weight of that suffering makes today's changes feel all the heavier.

"Last Men in Aleppo" (2017) is a documentary following the White Helmets, capturing the everyday heroism of people rescuing civilians. An Academy Award-nominated short documentary. Interestingly, some former White Helmets members have now been incorporated into the transitional government's civil defense organization.

"The Square" (2013), while covering the Egyptian revolution rather than Syria, vividly portrays the joy and confusion of people standing in the square after dictatorship falls. It is no coincidence that what is happening in Damascus's Umayyad Square now overlaps with this film.

Spring Does Not Come on Its Own

They say spring has come to Syria. But history teaches us: spring does not simply arrive, and frost can still fall even after it does. The safety of minority sects, negotiations with the Kurds, the return of millions of refugees, and interference from surrounding powers — the homework piled before Syria remains mountainous.

Yet in the faces of those drinking coffee in Damascus cafes, cautious hope is spreading where long-harbored fear once lived. Ensuring that hope does not go out, and that the world does not forget Syria — that is the smallest and greatest thing we can do right now.