In the aftermath of Bashar al-Assad's fall from power, the world has learned that Syria harbored a clandestine nuclear weapons program far more advanced than previously known — a reminder that the ambitions of closed regimes rarely die with their architects. The International Atomic Energy Agency, granted access by Syria's new government, has confirmed the existence of a nearly complete reactor designed to produce weapons-grade fissile material, along with 73 tonnes of hidden uranium discovered behind sealed walls at an undisclosed site. What was once concealed in darkness now stands under int