Syria, One Week Later: Reflections on a Revolution

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — In the week since Syrian rebels captured the capital, Damascus, ending the half-century rule of the Assad family in stunningly rapid fashion, there has been a mix of post-rebellion chaos and signs of an orderly transition.

On the one hand, leaders of the rebellion have met with former government officials and chosen a transitional leader. They have tried to ensure that basic services, in particular banking and local police, are continued. Some of the most notorious prisons where the former regime kept its political enemies have been emptied, and Syrians across the country and around the world have rejoiced over a revolution that one month ago would have seemed unthinkable.