(1930-2000) President of the Syrian Arab Republic from early 1971 until his death in 2000. In 1970, Hafez al-Assad, then Minister of Defense, a general in the Syrian Air Force, and a member of the pragmatic, military wing of the Ba’ath party, wrested control of the government in a military coup. The coup was a reaction to years of dissatisfaction with the government of Salah Jadid, first expressed in the failure of the War of 1967 in which Syria lost the Golan Heights, and later in Syria’s aborted intervention in the Jordanian-Palestinian Black September. Assad’s centralization of power ended years of political instability and a series of successive coups. Assad consolidated his power and popularity in the War of 1973 when Egyptian and Syrian forces, backed by Jordan and Iraq, threatened Israel with significant military advances. Syria did not succeed in regaining the occupied Golan Heights, although the war was considered a political victory. Assad continued to try to find ways to return the Golan to Syria until his death in 2000, including brief negotiations with Israel in the early 1990s. He was staunchly anti-Zionist and Arab nationalist throughout his career. Hafez al-Assad was succeeded by his son, Bashar al-Assad. See “Hafez al-Assad.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 14 July 2011. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Assad-Ha.html.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/al-assad-hafez