The imminent capture of Damascus means the fall of the Syrian regime, which will trigger a contested political process among competing rebel factions to create a provisional government. This will likely be a slow process prone to violence as foreign actors try to shape the postwar balance of power, making an unstable and fragmented Syria the most likely outcome. On Dec. 7, rebel forces entered the suburbs of Damascus nearly 14 years after Syria's Civil War began, indicating the end of over 50 years of rule by the Assad family. The first rebel forces to enter Damascus came from the south near Deraa, where the uprising of 2011 initially began, and which the Assad government had managed to suppress through reconciliation agreements in 2018-19.