On Hafez al-Assad's death, the constitution's age requirement is amended within hours and Bashar al-Assad — an ophthalmologist recalled to the succession after his brother's death — becomes president. The brief "Damascus Spring" of reform debate is closed down within a year.
Why it mattersThe succession demonstrated that the state was the family's instrument, and Bashar's decade of crony liberalisation and rural neglect loaded the grievances that detonated in 2011.