US caught by surprise as Syria overthrows al-Assad: Analysis

President Biden praises overthrow but warns of uncertainty, as analysts question his administration’s years-long deprioritisation of Syria.

Washington, DC – A lightning-quick offensive has seen Syria’s opposition take control of major cities and large swaths of territory, toppling the government of longtime leader President Bashar al-Assad and indelibly altering the war-torn country’s future.

The events represent a remarkable reversal of fortunes in Syria and enlivened a multipronged civil war that appeared largely stagnant for years. The situation, analysts told Al Jazeera, also appears to have been largely unanticipated by the administration of United States President Joe Biden, and raises galling questions over how Washington will proceed in the weeks and months ahead.

“I think everything that’s happening caught them by surprise,” Qutaiba Idlbi, a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera. “So many of us analysts and Syria watchers have been wondering what’s going to come next.”

“[The Biden administration] will need to recalibrate their approach to Syria,” added Idlbi, who is also a Syrian refugee. But that is all but assured to be constrained by Biden’s diminished power before he hands over the office in January to president-elect Donald Trump, he said.

“I feel that the events on the ground are moving way too quickly for them to catch up, especially in this lame-duck session.”