The Empire Strikes Back: Kicking Assad

In the aftermath of the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Hani and Shawn perform the postmortem on the Syrian regime, dissect it's swift collapse, and discuss what it reveals about the strategic and ideological fractures within the Axis of Resistance (3:28). They challenge the manufactured image of Assad as an anti-imperialist strongman amongst his sycophants (15:07), discuss Iran’s strategic follies during the Syrian Civil War, Erdogan's emergence as the winner from the fog of war (38:55), and HTS's precarious position after taking power. As insurgencies become state apparatuses and warlords rebrand themselves for Western media (35:40), the episode interrogates how narratives are spun in real time—blurring the line between resistance and regime change.

Become a Patron - patreon.com/dissentmanufactured

Subscribe on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-q-2tf86mznIDsunTJ8JEw

Watch more episodes from Manufacturing Dissent at https://rss.com/podcasts/manufacturingdissent/

#manufacturingdissent