The squares and streets of Damascus and other major cities were crowded Friday with cheerful Syrians who flocked to celebrate the "victory" of their revolution that led to the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

While the Assad regime is now on the ash heap of history, Syria is still very much a state in turmoil, tugged in different directions by competing foreign powers that have every intention of

Assad, our nation’s “father,” wasn’t born of loyalty; it was a survival tactic, rooted in generational terror that he was passing on to me. As I learned more about my country’s history, the imposed paternal connection between me and “Baba Hafez” began to fuel my already budding daddy issues.

Syrian-American foreign policy analyst Kareem Rifai explains why Assad’s ouster is both a turning point and a delicate crossroads for Syria.