A new dawn in Syria

The American President Donald Trump in a significant shift in US foreign policy, recently announced the easing of long-standing sanctions on Syria, marking a pivotal moment for the war-torn nation and the broader Middle East. This decision came during the President’s middle east tour and discussions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The meeting between Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani and President Rump, apparently at the behest of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), was followed by a sudden announcement of ending economic sanctions against Syria. It reflects a pragmatic approach to fostering stability and economic recovery in the region.
Though unexpected, yet the fact is that these sanctions were imposed by the US itself in 1979, when it designated Syria as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, citing its support for groups like Hezbollah and its military presence in Lebanon.
The next round of sanctions was imposed in 2004 under the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, targeting Syria’s alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and its interference in neighbouring Iraq. The most stringent measures came in 2011, in response to the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters, leading to the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which aimed to hold the regime accountable for war crimes.
However, the easing of sanctions may offer a way forward to Syria and its new leader to rebuild the country and reintegrate into the international community.
Bashar Al-Assad’s regime’s collapse in December 2024 ushered in a new era for Syria. While concerns have been expressed about his past affiliations, Al-Sharaa has made concerted efforts to distance himself from his militant past and present himself as a statesman committed to rebuilding Syria.
His first diplomatic outreach was to Saudi Arabia, including a visit to Makkah with his wife. The visit signalled a desire to align Syria with its Arab neighbours – as opposed to Iran – and embrace a more moderate form of Islam and governance.
The world’s attention on Syria today is because of its strategic location – as it has been for millennia. The emerging political trends in the Levant and the wider Middle East for years to come, will be based on the outcome of the competition to control Syrian governance.
In fact, domestic, regional, and global actors are competing for power and influence in Syria because of the country’s unique position and status. Syria, by heritage is a rather rare complete and consequential Arab country, due to its human and natural resources, strategic geography, and political, cultural, and ethnic ties in the Middle East and the world.
Syria today, even in its dilapidated state after half a century of autocratic abuse and 13 years of war, hosts hundreds of diplomats, businesspeople, civic activists, and carpetbaggers. But this is not new.
This has been the Syria’s global contribution for the last 5,000 years, ever since Damascus and Aleppo emerged as productive, vibrant, and strategic urban centres in the third millennium BC. Historically, the land and people of Syria have consistently generated knowledge, value systems, food, wealth, culture, technology, and identities that have made their land a strategic and coveted global crossroads.
As Faisal J Abbas opines very aptly in his article in the Arab News, that in fact, the American decision to ease sanctions should not be viewed as an endorsement of past actions but a recognition of the changing dynamics, and a bet on a future that the US, Saudi Arabia, and other middle eastern states can help support in rebuilding their country and as a result extend their sphere of influence. And the main factor behind this benevolence is to keep Syria away from its old allies i.e. Russia and Iran.
The western sanctions were primarily aimed at the Assad regime’s oppressive policies and its destabilising role in the region. With the regime’s fall, maintaining these sanctions would have only hindered the Syrian people’s aspirations for peace and prosperity.
Moreover, Al-Sharaa has shown commitment to forming an inclusive government, respecting minority rights, and focusing on reconstruction efforts aligns with the hope of broader goal of giving a chance to the regional stability.
Syria’s economy has been devastated by years of conflict and sanctions, with over 90 percent of the population living in poverty. The lifting of sanctions would open the doors for international investment, aid, and the rebuilding of critical infrastructure.
It also allows Syria to shift from being a hub for illicit activities, such as drug trafficking, to becoming a centre for trade and tourism, reminiscent of its pre-war status. For the Syrian people, the lifting of sanctions brings hope for a future free from conflict and economic despair.
Faisal further opines that Syria has always been and remains special because it is the most complete Arab country that enjoys all the assets of genuine statehood and nationhood. These include fertile land and water resources; mineral and agricultural wealth; an industrial base; human wealth in skilled citizens, proficient managers, and entrepreneurial businesspeople; a pluralistic citizenry across vibrant and creative urban centres, alongside deeply anchored villages, and rural settlements; a strong national and cultural identity; and, access by land and sea to the wealth and trade routes of three continents.
It is also a consequential country because of its intrinsic wealth and its strategic geography. Ancient and modern empires – from Greece, Rome, Persia, Byzantium, and India to Britain and France, not to mention Russia and the United States – have fought to control Syria in order to secure access to its resources and important cross-continental routes that traverse it.
More than any other Arab land, including modern Egypt and energy-rich Gulf states, Syria is also consequential because it emits across the region waves of emotion and identity that reflect what ordinary Arabs seek in order to fulfil both their human and civic aspirations. At various moments in the past century, these sentiments emanated from the realms of pluralism, constitutionalism, Islamism, anti-colonialism, and Arabism.
Syria is also important for people around the world to grasp because its experience reminds us in a single stroke of the entire modern Arab region’s strengths, weaknesses, failures, identities, and aspirations.
Al-Sharaa’s overtures to Arab nations and his efforts to distance Syria from former allies like Iran and Russia suggest a potential realignment that could serve US strategic interests.
However, the one definite fact is that the easing of sanctions on Syria represents a pragmatic approach to a complex situation. It acknowledges the transformative changes in Syria’s political landscape and offers a pathway for the country to rebuild and reintegrate into the international community.
For the Syrian people, it brings hope for a future free from conflict and economic despair. For the region and the world, it presents an opportunity to foster stability and counteract extremist influences.
In a way, Syria’s struggle for dignified, stable statehood today is the delayed culmination of the historic but quashed decade of mass Arab uprising for democracy, pluralism, and equal rights for all.
As in 1920, Syria today also tests whether external powers can allow its citizens to define themselves, and set an example for the rest of the region. If there is any Arab citizenry that can achieve this, it is the Syrians, because they have been practicing for this moment for 5,000 years.
Asad Mirza
The writer is a New Delhi-based senior commentator on national, international, defence and strategic affairs, environmental issues, an interfaith practitioner, and a media consultant.