[Empat tahun sejak dimulainya pemberontakan, Suriah masih terjebakdalam perang sipil yang telah menghancurkan setiap segi wilayahnya. Jumlah korban tewas melampaui 200.000 jiwa, akan tetapi solusi politik masih jauh dari harapan. Penelitian ini menyoroti bagaimana persepsi ancaman, internal dan eksternal, mempengaruhi perilaku rezim Bashar al-Asad dalam upayanya mempertahankan legitimasi politiknya. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk memahami proses pembuatan kebijakan oleh pemerintah pada situasi krisis dan untuk mengeksplorasi bagaimana perang sipil yang berkepanjangan disebabkan oleh kesediaan rezim yang berkuasa untuk mengadopsi kebijakan berisikosekalipun untuk melanggengkan kekuasaannya. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan desain studi kasus. Hasil penelitian menyarankan bahwa untuk memahami kompleksitas perang sipil, diperlukan kajian dari berbagai sudut pandang, termasuk perspektif rezim yang berkuasa, untuk menemukan solusi politik yang terbaik bagi tercapainya resolusi konflik.;Four years since the start of its uprising, Syria is still caught in a civil war that has torn every facet of the country. The death toll has exceeded 200.000 lives with no political solution in sights. This research highlights on how threats perceptions, both internal and external, affect behavior of Bashar al-Asad’s regime in order to protect its political legitimacy. The purpose of this research is to understand policy-making process by a government during crisis and to explore on how a long-lasted civil war is caused by the will of the government to have a risky policy for its survival. This research is done by qualitative method with a case study approach. The researcher suggest that to understand the complexity of civil war, the other analysts shall look from many angles, including government’s perspective, to find any political solution that may best resolve the conflict., Four years since the start of its uprising, Syria is still caught in a civil warthat has torn every facet of the country. The death toll has exceeded 200.000 liveswith no political solution in sights. This research highlights on how threatsperceptions, both internal and external, affect behavior of Bashar al-Asad’sregime in order to protect its political legitimacy. The purpose of this research isto understand policy-making process by a government during crisis and to exploreon how a long-lasted civil war is caused by the will of the government to have arisky policy for its survival. This research is done by qualitative method with acase study approach. The researcher suggest that to understand the complexity ofcivil war, the other analysts shall look from many angles, including government’sperspective, to find any political solution that may best resolve the conflict.]