Syria

Anatomy of Regime Change

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In December 2024, Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad departed for Russia after militia forces took Damascus. An Al-Qaeda affiliated group led by Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani (aka Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa) took power. New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman hooted that it was the “biggest…most game-changing event in the Middle East in the last 45 years.” Yet until then, Al-Jolani was wanted for terrorism and had a U.S. State Department $10 million bounty on his head since 2017. The media-established story of popular “rebels” triumphing over “evil” has since dominated. Washington’s role in this long-standing regime change operation was erased. This is the first comprehensive account of the U.S. regime change operation in Syria dating back decades. The goal was to end Syria’s nationalist economic program, its support for the Palestinians, and its steadfast opposition to U.S. and Israeli hegemonic designs in Western Asia.

Contributors

Jeremy Kuzmarov

Jeremy Kuzmarov holds a Ph.D. in American history from Brandeis University. He did his BA and MA at McGill University in Montreal, where he was born. He has taught at numerous colleges in the United States and is regularly sought out as an expert on U.S. history and politics for radio and TV programs. Managing Editor of CovertAction Magazine, Kuzmarov is author of five books on U.S. foreign policy, including Obama’s Unending Wars (2019) and Warmonger (2024). In addition, he has contributed to many edited volumes, including The Oxford Handbook of Late Colonial Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies. Kuzmarov lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Dan Kovalik

Dan Kovalik has been a labor and human rights lawyer since graduating from Columbia Law School in 1993. He served as in-house counsel for the United Steelworkers for twenty-six years. He has represented plaintiffs in human rights cases arising out of egregious abuses in Colombia. He also taught International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law from 2012 to 2023. Author of many books, including The Case for Palestine: Why It Matters and Why You Should Care, he received the David W. Mills Mentoring Fellowship from Stanford Law School, the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism, and Iran’s 15th Farabi International Award. Dan Kovalik lives in Pittsburgh.

Chapter Contributors Pages Year Price
In this foreword, Stone presents a critical account of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, arguing that deliberate destabilization of Syria, Iraq, and Libya produced sectarian violence and …
4 $0.40
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and the thirteen-year U.S. regime-change operation, including Operation Timber Sycamore.
; 9 $0.90
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik trace the U.S. covert interference in Syria from the Truman administration through the early Cold War, beginning with the 1949 CIA-engineered coup against …
; 10 $1.00
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik trace United States regime-change efforts against Syria, spanning the 1970s through the 2024 overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government.
; 20 $2.00
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine the 2011 Syrian uprising as a coordinated regime- change operation rather than a spontaneous popular movement.
; 14 $1.40
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine the sectarian massacres that swept Syria in March 2025 after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham overthrew President Assad, alongside the author’s 2021 visits …
; 17 $1.70
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine Operation Timber Sycamore, a CIA covert programme (2013–2017) arming and training Syrian rebels to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s government.
; 13 $1.30
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik traces the coordinated involvement of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel (operating alongside the United States) in the dismantling of Syria’s …
; 14 $1.40
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine allegations of chemical weapons false flag operations in Syria from 2013 to 2018, arguing that rebel forces orchestrated attacks to justify Western …
; 17 $1.70
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examines how U.S. economic sanctions, imposed from 2011 to 2024 under three administrations, functioned as a strategy to weaken Syria.
; 10 $1.00
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine the White Helmets and their alleged function as a propaganda partner to Al-Qaeda-affiliated forces during the Syrian War (2011–2024).
; 10 $1.00
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine how liberal intellectuals have provided moral and ideological justification for United States regime-change operations, tracing a lineage from the …
; 20 $2.00
In this chapter, Kuzmarov and Kovalik examine conversations surrounding the United States supporting Al Quaeda in order to destabilize Syria.
21 $2.10
In this epilogue, Kuzmarov and Kovalik reflect on how United States intervention in the Syria, driven by geostrategic interests since the 1940s, was packaged as humanitarian action by liberal …
; 0 $0.00