With the fall of the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month, the last stronghold of the Arab left fell through the closing of the headquarters of the Syrian Arab Ba’athist Party in Damascus; similar to how the Iraqi Ba’athist Party fell in 2003 with the fall of Saddam Hussein at the hands of coalition forces. In a phenomenon worthy of study and deep understanding, we must not overlook the fall of Arab political parties with the fall of their leaders, regardless of their diverse orientations and intellectual leanings.

The Ba’athist Party rose during the period of Arab revolutions and the spread of what is known as the left in relation to ideas supporting revolutions and calls for economic, social, and cultural change. The party was founded in 1947 in Damascus by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party adopted the concept of Ba’athism, symbolizing renaissance, a mix of Arab nationalism, Arab unity, socialism, and anti-imperialism. The party’s literature aimed at unifying the Arab world into a single state with the slogan “Unity, Freedom, Socialism.”

Initially, the Arab Ba’athist Party merged with the Arab Resurrection Movement led by al-Arsuzi, and later with the Arab Socialist Party led by Akram al-Hawrani to form the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. The party quickly established branches........

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