Mriplomacy is often known as the art of doing the impossible. If so, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who became the leader of Syria, proved to be a master of persuasion and compromise. Although his Islamist party, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was identified as a terrorist organization by US, UK, EU and UNMr Sharaa took his officials to Damascus. His “performance” talks when the US is led to a A $10m bounty on his head. In a remarkable change, he shed his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, and tired of rebelling in Syria after 54 years of Assad’s rule.
It represents an international desire to recalibrate visits in response to Syria’s power dynamics. Whether they lead to concrete measures remains an open question. There is a need to do something; more than 90% the population lives below the poverty line. More than 6 million people have left the country and 7 million remain displaced within their borders. Mr Sharaa would like HTS to be removed from the terrorist list, his guardian government should be recognized, and sanctions he lifted the burden on the kingdom of Bashar al-Assad, so that the country can be rebuilt.
Conversely, different external powers want different things. Many countries emphasize the need to respect minorities, the rule of law and ultimately to establish an inclusive government. But some have their own requests. Russia would like to keep its military bases. US, who was admitted 2,000 soldiers in Syriahe wants to overthrow the Islamic State with his Kurdish allies. Turkeywhich says it wants to lift restrictions on HTS, push back those Kurdish groups and their demands for autonomy.
A stable Syria has appeal beyond the obvious domestic benefits. As the refugee returns, it can relieve migration pressures in Turkey and Europe IR is correct warns that without detailed planning and international support such a risk of restarting the conflict in the war-scarred region. Ultimately, Damascus’ goal should be to build a sustainable peace in one state. Which means foreign powers must go back – as Israelwhich he unlawfully occupied against the borders of the prince of Syria.
The Sunni organization HTS must demonstrate that it has truly left its past as an armed authoritarian group. He was with other rebels accused guns and running “moral police” to control women’s lives. He saw his rule in the province of Idlib disagreeing over high taxes and poor public services. In The Age of Political JihadismAaron Zelin wondered whether HTS leaders “could voluntarily resign, serve prison terms for past crimes, and then go away.” This is now inconvenient. As HTS emerges from the fall of the Assad regime, it must find a way to abuse all human rights, including its own.
Some fear that the new Syrian administration will turn into a harsh religious and sectarian regime, leaving women out of public life. Mr Sharaa is working to put such concerns to rest by meeting representatives of smaller groups and committees to rebuild a broken nation. He has merit in his call to reconsider whether a political transition for Syria agreed to by the 2015 UN Security Council was resolved. But he must undertake to make them constitution to * elected assembly or one inclusive, from the diversity of the Syriac, not by the hand of the counsel of the closest allies. By doing so, he risks creating nothing more true than the regime of the late Assad regime in Syria.