The improbable statesman: Al-Sharaa's White House gambit and the future of Syria's sovereignty

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

59% : Syrian President Ahmed Shara delivers a speech during the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Belem, Brazil, on November 6, 2025.
49% : Yet what Syria will not be discussing, at least initially, is full normalisation with Israel.
44% : The sticking point, unsurprisingly, is the Golan Heights -- the strategic plateau Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and formally annexed in 1981, a move recognised only by the United States.
44% : The legacy of Assad's iron-fisted refusal to compromise in any way with Israel remains fresh, and al-Sharaa will have to navigate the gap between pragmatic diplomacy and the nationalist mood.
43% : But the most consequential dimension of al-Sharaa's Washington visit concerns not reconstruction but reconciliation -- specifically, with Israel.
43% : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, al-Sharaa's foremost international patron, is said to be opposed to full normalisation with Israel on grounds that would undermine Ankara's influence at the expense of Israeli and Saudi leverage.
41% : Washington quietly removed his terrorist designation last year, and just days before his White House visit, the United Nations Security Council lifted sanctions against him and his interior minister.
39% : Damascus wants those forces withdrawn; Israel demands demilitarisation of southwestern Syria and guarantees against Iranian influence.
36% : Since Assad's collapse, Israel has deployed troops into a demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights, citing security concerns.
33% : For the US and Israel, the calculus is clear: a West-aligned Syria is a devastating blow to Iran and its "axis of resistance."

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