On December 8, the 53-year reign of the al-Assad family came to an end as rebel groups took over Syria. The Syrian civil war has been raging for almost 14 years, starting in 2011, and many experts viewed the regime collapse as a sudden shift in the conflict’s power dynamics. 

We spoke to AUC Professor Bahgat Korany to better understand the causes, impact and future of Syria following the fall of the al-Assad regime.  

Korany believes the speedy fall of al-Assad is significant in itself, demonstrating “our misconception of confusing the state’s fierceness with its strength. On the contrary, in this case, fierceness is much more a demonstration of the lack of legitimacy and acceptability, indeed of the state’s weakness.” 

Korany explained how al-Assad’s regime was mainly maintained through force, by counting on the Alawite minority and other groups through bribery, along with foreign support from Iran and Russia. “The decline of resources available at the disposal of the regime (lack of finance) or of its allies (increasing involvement of Russia in Ukraine and Iran devoting its main resources to conflict escalation with Israel) created serious economic problems for members of the Syrian army. Many simply abandoned the regime,” he said.

Yet while the fall of the regime was welcomed by many, Korany said that “the attainment of political stability for Syrians is not for tomorrow. There are too many militias and warlords dispersed in Syria’s different regions, many with their independent base among the population.” Mohammed al-Bashir has been named interim prime minister, and a new government is expected to materialize by the time his term ends on March 1, 2025. 

“Though Bashar’s fall was really overdue, hard times are still ahead for both Syria and the Arab world as a whole. But the real process toward an alternative, though time-consuming, is now starting.”

Still, Korany warns that “at a time when the need for national unity is crucial, Syria’s sociopolitical fragmentation will make coordination, consensus and coalition-building for a working national regime a real challenge.” He speculated that it will also take a long time for Syria to recover its position as an active regional power.

Another point of concern has been Israel’s encroachment onto the newly liberated Syrian territory. Since the regime’s collapse, the Israeli military has carried out more than 480 strikes in Syria, allegedly destroying the majority of the Syrian army’s assets while seizing Syrian territory, breaching the border for the first time in decades.

“At a time when the need for national unity is crucial, Syria’s sociopolitical fragmentation will make coordination, consensus and coalition-building for a working national regime a real challenge.” 

“The easy way Israel managed the destruction of Syria’s maritime/military infrastructure shows the new military hierarchy of the Middle East,” said Korany. “The ‘new Middle East’ will be essentially dominated by regional powers such as Turkey and especially Israel.”

Korany concluded, “Though Bashar’s fall was really overdue, hard times are still ahead for both Syria and the Arab world as a whole. But the real process toward an alternative, though time-consuming, is now starting.”

Did you know that sign language, like spoken language, is not universal? Egyptian Sign Language, the most commonly used type of sign language in Egypt, differs from other international sign languages. 

The universality of sign language is one of the misconceptions that a new workshop offered by the School of Continuing Education, Basics of Egyptian Sign Language, aims to address. The workshop equips participants with basic sign language skills, enabling them to communicate effectively with people who are deaf or hard of hearing, promoting inclusivity and accessibility.

Maged Habashy, director of the Languages Department at SCE, said, “This workshop can benefit anyone — AUC faculty, educators, healthcare professionals, customer service agents and more.” The workshop is currently training 180 customer service agents on sign language in collaboration with a French company running the Cairo Light Rail Transit between Cairo and the New Administrative Capital.

“The sign language workshop at AUC was a remarkable experience for me. It added a lot to my understanding of deaf culture and the needs of the deaf in communications.”

Offered in AUC Tahrir Square, the workshop kicks off by training participants to sign the Arabic alphabet and greetings, as well as vocabulary relating to family, professions, religion, governorates and countries. Participants also learn to sign adjectives that express different emotions, allowing them to maintain conversations with people who are deaf using complete sentences.

“The sign language workshop at AUC was a remarkable experience for me. It added a lot to my understanding of deaf culture and the needs of the deaf in communications,” said participant Wafaa Shoukry.

In addition to linguistic skills, the workshop highlights the culture of people who are deaf and addresses several misconceptions, including the notion that they are intellectually challenged or unable to participate in society. The first part of the workshop is dedicated to correcting such misunderstandings and exploring the need for sign language skills in the Egyptian community.

As interest grows, SCE plans to offer an advanced Egyptian Sign Language course in the future. Shoukry, who is excited to build on her skills in future sessions, said, “I highly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in learning sign language.”

The workshop is available on demand on the SCE website.

From developing a biosensor that identifies plant pathogens to detecting and tracking  environmental pollutants, AUC’s Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics research group is actively engaged in the field of plasmonic sensing, with applications in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and food safety. 

“Plasmonic sensing is a technique used to detect very small changes in the vicinity of the sensor by shining light on a metal surface, like gold or silver,” said Hassan Azzazy, distinguished University professor of chemistry and head of the AUC research group. “Due to their high sensitivity, plasmonic sensors are favored for the detection of environmental toxins and disease biomarkers.”

Azzazy’s team is currently working on two main projects. The first seeks to develop a biosensor for the detection of plant pathogens, which affect plant productivity as well as threaten food security and global ecosystem sustainability, especially as plant disease outbreaks have become more frequent and widespread due to climate change. The second aims to detect and monitor environmental pollutants, which negatively impact living organisms and socioeconomic development.

“AUC students and researchers who pursue sensing projects will have access to expert knowledge and resources, in addition to training opportunities in sophisticated laboratories using the latest technology developed by partner institutions.”

Through the newly established Arab-German Plasmonic Sensing Network, AUC researchers are collaborating with a specialized group of scientists in the field from universities and research centers across the world, including Egypt, Germany, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Italy and France. The network’s first meeting was hosted at AUC this fall and featured 14 international speakers. 

At the meeting, several cutting-edge strategies based on plasmonic nanostructures were presented and discussed, including applications in bioanalytics; detection of infectious agents in humans, animals and plants; biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases; photodynamic therapy that combines light and medicine to kill cancer cells; and nanotubes for use as broad-spectrum antibacterials.

Originally established to strengthen collaboration among German and Arab researchers, the network now aims to become an international expert group in the field of plasmonic sensing. Its current cohort of scientists plans to develop technologies to address global challenges in the fields of health, food and environmental monitoring.

One of the network’s goals is to develop a low-cost, universal plasmonic sensing platform for the detection of a variety of targets that can be easily reproduced in many countries, especially those with limited resources. This will serve multiple purposes set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including good health, innovation and sustainable communities. 

“The network complements research activities at AUC due to its multidisciplinary nature,” said Azzazy, a founding member of the network. “AUC students and researchers who pursue sensing projects will have access to expert knowledge and resources, in addition to training opportunities in sophisticated laboratories using the latest technology developed by partner institutions.”

On December 3, AUC celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at its Tahrir Square campus through the AccessAUC initiative. The event included a panel discussion, hands-on activities and a bazaar featuring handicrafts made by people with disabilities.