EDITORIAL: Winds of change are blowing in the Middle East. After the recent normalisation of relations between the region’s two rival powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Arab League has now welcomed Syria back into the Arab fold ending more than a decade of the country’s isolation. Its membership was revoked when in March 2011 President Bashar al-Assad had ordered a crackdown on pro-democracy protests that turned into a bloody civil war, fuelled by outside powers, the US and its regional allies.
Nearly half a million people were killed and 23 million others displaced, and many forced to take refuge in Turkiye and other neighbouring countries. Thanks to the intervention by Russia and Iran along with another member of the ‘Axis of Resistance’, Lebanese Hezbollah, President Assad was able to maintain control over his country – though some areas in the north are still in rebel hands.
A lot has changed in the region in the recent years. The US is no longer regarded a reliable ally as seen during President Joe Biden’s last year’s visit to Saudi Arabia, where he failed to secure commitments for an immediate increase in oil production and inclusion of Israel in a regional security bloc. Meanwhile, realignments have been taking shape with trade and strategic partnerships shifting towards China and Russia. That called for a fresh approach towards Syria. There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity to re-establish ties with the Assad regime. Foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Egypt recently visited Damascus. Syrian FM has also called on several Arab capitals. The stage is now set for President Assad’s participation in the May 19 Arab League Summit in Riyadh. For the US it is an annoyance, a practical example of its diminished influence. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has issued a statement, saying his country will not normalise relations with the Assad regime, and does not support others normalising until there is authentic, UN-facilitated political progress in line with a UN Security Council resolution 2254. In that case, the Palestinians and Syrians would want to remind him of the UNSC resolution 242 that calls for Israeli withdrawal from all territories it occupied in the 1967 war.
Although President Assad has consolidated his control over Syrian territory, the humanitarian crisis the protracted conflict created, further exacerbated by February 6 devastating earthquake, needs to be sorted out. It is an Arab problem, and 22 members of the Arab League have made clear their “keenness to launch a leading Arab role in efforts to resolve” the crisis and its “humanitarian, security and political consequences.” To that end, they have agreed to form a ministerial committee to continue direct dialogue with the Syrian government in order to reach a comprehensive solution. The upcoming Riyadh Summit is expected to usher in a new era of peace and stability, unlocking the region’s moribund potential for progress and prosperity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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