Syria’s political and security landscape has not stopped evolving in the one year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Now, in 2026, Syria’s government must turn inward, prioritizing further domestic reforms and improvements. The demonstrations were guarded against Sunni counter-protestors by the new government’s General Security Forces. Gregory Waters is a nonresident senior fellow for the Syria Project in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs and writes about Syria’s security institutions and social dynamics. Further readingImage: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa signs an agreement at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, on January 18, 2026.