What Caused the Syrian Civil War?

After over a decade of fighting and devastation, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians and the displacement of many more, the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been toppled. What first sparked the Syrian Civil War? Robert Malley, Senior Fellow at the Yale Jackson School and former Special Envoy for Iran at the U.S. Department of State, situates the conflict in the context of the Arab Spring uprisings, sectarian struggles, and Syria's unique situation.
This interview is from the FPA archives.