Protection rackets and drug-dealing are big sources of income

Forget flamboyant Arab dictators in military attire laden with medals or clad in swirling tribal robes. Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, is the picture of modesty. Yet in a region of kleptocratic rulers, few have plundered their country so completely.

Life for his people should have improved after the defeat of Islamic State in 2019 and the regime’s recapture of large chunks of rebel-held territory. Instead it is worse. Electricity is more often off than on. The population of the areas under the regime’s control has halved since the start of the rebellion in 2011; 90% of them live in poverty, many surviving on foreign aid and remittances. The currency has lost 90% of its value.

But a prime cause is Mr Assad’s cannibalising of his country. “He rules like a Mafia boss,” says a confidant who recently defected.

Source: The Economist (UK)