if you want to get into the history of it, you have to begin with the recognition that assad's father was actually in the same political party as saddam hussein, namely the ba'ath party, which was initially a soviet front exporting the global revolution to arabs with a set of ideological tweaks designed to accommodate the culture. they wrapped this up and called it arabic socialism and used it to take power in iraq and syria.

while assad is not his father, his father was every bit as brutal as saddam hussein was. the reason that usually informed actors find it so easy to lapse into fantasy on contemporary syria is that they remember the brutality of his father.

the calls for regime change in the early years of the younger assad's regime (and, it is a regime....) were tied into a call to democratize the country upon his father's death. at the time, you could even call it a call for debaathification. i supported those calls, and for good reason: there was an opportunity to peacefully democratize the country, as it opened up after the death of it's stalinist dictator. and, you have to understand how intertwined the process of democratization needs to be with the process of demilitarization, and removing inherited military power from the hands of elite families.

in fact, one of the strongest proponents for reform was the younger assad, himself, who was not groomed for power and only found himself in charge due to the assassination of his brother. assad is western-educated and had to actually be brought home in order to be installed. before the war opened up, assad was in the process of an orderly transition to a democratic government.

in fact, this is the reason that the saudis have invaded syria: they welcome assad's removal, but they do not want a democratization. they want a syria that is either under the control of conservative clerics, or at least dominated by a friendly dictator like al-sisi.

that's right: the truth in syria is that we are backing rebels to prevent democracy, which is what the regime actually wants. and, i do not believe that assad has ever indicated that he has changed his viewpoint on the matter. but, you can't have a democratic transition in the midst of a foreign invasion.

that said, it is not likely at this point, now, that the russians would back a transition to a democracy, either. that window has closed for the immediate future.