It was meant to be a quick “hello” during the US president’s whirlwind tour of the Middle East. But Donald’s Trump’s unexpected meeting with Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa on 14 May in Saudi Arabia would yield one of the most significant, and surprising, results of his trip: the lifting of US sanctions on Syria, which could open avenues for oil exports, remittance flows, and reconstruction financing, and a newfound optimism for a country ravaged by 14 years of civil war.
Trump’s announcement was met with widespread celebrations across Syria and reaffirmed the unilateral nature of the US president’s decision-making – several of his advisers were said to be against such a move, including the head of counterterrorism at the White House, Sebastian Gorka, and the former Syria Envoy in Trump’s first administration, Joel Rayburn. Yet after the president’s declaration in Saudi Arabia, the Trump team characteristically fell in line. In his Senate hearing for the top Middle East job at the State Department, which took place the day after Trump met with al-Sharaa, Rayburn was asked about “rumours” of US plans to assassinate al-Sharaa. Rayburn said that the rumours were “clearly not in line with the president’s intention that he stated or his description of Mr. Sharaa in the last couple of days”.
Trump’s decision to lift sanctions also indicated a new strategy for the Middle East: one that favours diplomacy over war and centres economic integration as a pillar of stabilisation. In this new landscape, Syria, having long been a proxy battleground where regional and global powers played out their rivalries, stands not only to benefit economically but to play a role in shaping the future of the region. The next several months will be critical: Syrians, as well as US and European governments, will be watching whether al-Sharaa uses incoming investments and economic opportunity to address structural challenges – think corruption and institutional weaknesses following decades of control by Bashar al-Assad’s cronies and the military, as well governance challenges and sectarian tensions – or whether he turns towards autocracy by consolidating control in the presidential palace.
Given the complexity of lifting the sanctions on Syria, little is expected to change overnight. Some sanctions will require US Congressional approval to be permanently dismantled, while others were enacted via previous executive orders and can be lifted by another presidential executive order. For now, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has stated that a 180-day waiver will be implemented against the sanctions to ease the entry of humanitarian assistance into the country, implicitly underscoring that the US will be watching al-Sharaa’s actions closely and that the waivers can be rescinded if need be. That said, several countries have already signalled their willingness to engage Syria economically, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar have confirmed they have paid off Syria’s debts to the World Bank. This means that Syria is once again eligible for grants to fund reconstruction, which the World Bank estimates could run between $250bn to $1trn.
While much has been made of the economic significance of Trump’s decision to lift sanctions, it would be a mistake to underestimate the vast geopolitical and security implications. Syria’s neighbours, which collectively host millions of Syrian refugees, will be looking for signs that the country is safe for return while they also seek opportunities for cross-border trade. Turkey, a long-time patron of anti-Assad and anti-Kurdish armed groups in the north-east, will be keen to deepen its influence through institutionalised security and diplomatic ties with the al-Sharaa government. Israel, which has made the protection of the Druze in the occupied Golan Heights a stated priority and excuse to conduct military strikes throughout the south, will have to decide whether to cooperate with al-Sharaa’s government on security issues or continue to view him as a jihadi in a suit. Reports that al-Sharaa has authorised quiet engagement with Israeli security officials, coupled with his public statements in favour of peace – if not full normalisation just yet – with Israel, may calm Benjamin Netanyahu’s aggression for the time being.
In their meeting, Trump also put several demands to al-Sharaa, one of which was to expel foreign fighters from Syria and, more challengingly, take over the administration of the Isis camps in the north-east from the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The camps hold thousands of foreign fighters who came to Syria to join the messianic terrorist organisation beginning in early 2012, as well as their families, including children who have been effectively renounced by their (mostly European) governments and have spent their lives in a no-man’s land (Shamima Begum, whose British citizenship was revoked by then home secretary Sajid Javid on national security grounds, is currently in one such camp). The Isis file will surely be one of the most significant challenges facing al-Sharaa moving forward.
All of this is not to detract from this immense opportunity for the new Syrian government, not to mention Syria’s long-suffering population. The country’s economy has been devastated by years of conflict and sanctions. The lifting of sanctions could be transformational. However, the economy faces deep structural issues, including rampant inflation and institutional decay, which sanctions relief alone cannot resolve. While Syria’s government – indeed the country’s Arab neighbours and Turkey – view the sanctions relief as an opportunity for economic revival, the path to recovery will require both substantial international support and internal reforms. Whether al-Sharaa will capitalise on this opportunity is not yet certain.
[See also: What is Trump thinking?]
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