After over a decade of silence, Farouk al-Sharaa, former Syrian Vice President and long-time Foreign Minister, has broken his isolation by publishing a powerful account of one of the most sensitive and obscure political chapters in Syria's modern history.
The second volume of his memoirs (2000–2015), recently published by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, offers more than just personal reflection. It reveals the hidden mechanics of exclusion and control within the now-defunct Assad regime. Al-Sharaa, who served under both Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, mysteriously disappeared from public view in 2013, fueling speculation of defection or house arrest.
He had initially wished for this section of his memoirs to be published posthumously, but the regime’s collapse forced its earlier release. His writings provide a rare insider’s perspective on the regime’s oppressive machinery and redefine “loyalty” and “betrayal” from someone who refused to be a tool of repression.
In 2011, at the height of the uprising, the regime formed a “National Dialogue Committee” headed by al-Sharaa in an attempt to ease public unrest. Yet his testimony lays bare the limited room for maneuver and Bashar al-Assad’s firm grip on power.