Syria – with ‘mafia mob boss’ Assad in charge for now

Syria is about to hold elections described in Europe as a farce which will undoubtedly return Bashar Assad on an unassailable and risible majority. The country battered by a savage war for a decade, with Russia and Iran as military backstops, has disappeared from the headlines but Bashar Assad has been ruthlessly consolidating his family’s power and wealth overseeing what is left of a broken nation.  Half of Syria’s population is displaced, with many remaining outside its border