Changing Role of the Syrian Troops as Political Institution during Bashar al-Asad Presidency

The master's thesis analyzes the transformation of the role of the army as a political institution in Syria. The research problem is reflected in the fact that during the civil war the Syrian army has undergone significant changes and today the Syrian armed forces need to be fully restored and reformed. Since this largely depends on the restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria. In this regard, the research question will be how to restore the integrity of the Institute of the Syrian army in the context of armed civil conflict. The research methodology is to study the phenomenon of the army through the prism of neo-institutional approach. The study used the following research methods: analysis of scientific materials on a given topic, a comparative method that allows you to compare the two models of the relationship between the army and the government. The system method, where the Syrian army is considered as part of a higher order in the interaction between the institutions of the political system and the structural and functional method in the study involves studying the functional value of the army. The results of the study showed that with the coming to power of Bashar al-Assad, the armed forces also remain the main element of the political system of the SAR. But at the same time they have undergone a number of important internal institutional changes that led to the split of the Syrian army in the civil war. At this time, the role of the army has significantly transformed and the Syrian armed forces are no longer able to independently protect the regime from opposition and other radical forces. Moreover, the Syrian army needs to be fully restored. The reanimation and reformation of the Syrian army is a top priority, as the restoration of Syrian sovereignty largely depends on it.