with the Ba'ath party as its vanguard by establishing a "coup-proof" system that eliminated factional rivalries. As soon as he seized power, the armed forces, secret police, security forces, and bureaucracy were purged, subjugating them to party command by installing Alawite elites loyal to Assad.

To maintain control, the regime had shifted toward the use of brute force and relentless oppression by the early 1980s, though Assadism initially attempted to solve problems