Bashar al-Assad

Position: President, Syria

Biography: The civil war in Syria has been raging for nearly three years, with the latest estimates putting the death toll at more than 125,000. Two events in the year ahead will test current president Bashar al-Assad’s determination to stay in power. 22 January has been set as the date for the repeatedly delayed Geneva 2 peace conference, a UN-backed initiative to resolve the conflict.

Al-Assad said in late December that his government would participate in the talks. Opposition groups say his removal from power has to be a condition for peace. Presidential elections have been scheduled for 2014 in Syria.

The date of the vote has yet to be announced and it is not certain it will go ahead, given the turmoil in the country, but when questioned about the possibility of re-election, Al-Assad said he intends to run. The 48-year-old inherited power from his father in 2000. His army has been accused of using chemical weapons against civilians in the conflict.