Thread by @WaywardRabbler

The Continuing Regional Rapprochement of #Syria and #Assad

A thread 🪡

1/25

In January I wrote about how, after over 10 years of brutal war pushed and funded by outside powers, the #MiddleEast was accepting that the #Syrian Arab Republic, led by #Assad would stay in power.

thewaywardrabbler.substack.com/p/the-state-wh…

2/25

The #USA and #NATO countries have been unhappy about things turning out this way, especially as #Syria is a close ally of #Russia. However, the Muslim states of the region are seeing that the future is cooperation, and that the SAR has won the war.

3/25

Hardly a week goes by that #Syria doesn't have a major step towards normalcy with the other #Arab and #Muslim nations. For example, on February 8th, a delegation from #Lebanon met with #Assad, for the first time since the war began.

thecradle.co/article-view/2…

4/25

Then, on Feb 9 #Tunisia President @TnPresidency announced a desire to restore relations, calling the remnant of the war an "internal problem" to be dealt with by #Syria, not outside powers.

usnews.com/news/world/art…

5/25

#Syria/#Tunisia relations had been broken off when the war began and the whole region turned against #Assad. However, they were later partially restored so that Tunisia could track #terrorists from Tun. fighting in the war

6/25

Later in February, a large delegation of senior lawmakers from across the #Arab world were hosted by #Assad in #Damascus. #Iraq Parliament Speaker said, "We cannot do without #Syria and Syria cannot do without its #Arab environment"

aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/26…

7/25

Shortly after, the #Egypt FM traveled to #Damascus for the first time since the war began. Egypt is the most populous country in the region, and is of enormous cultural and economic importance.

news.antiwar.com/2023/02/27/egy…

8/25

On March 7th, the #Saudi FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan said to reporters in the #UK, "There is a consensus building in the Arab world that the status quo is not tenable" regarding the Western-backed blockade of #Syria

thecradle.co/article-view/2…

9/25

Things really picked up as March continued, when #Assad traveled to #Moscow to meet with #Putin. Unlike prior visits where Assad was beleaguered and in need of aid, the tenor of this visit was downright triumphant.

https://twitter.com/machiavelli_gr/status/1635726215314042880?s=20

10/25

Then, #Assad traveled to the #UAE to meet with the President. Sheik Mohamed said, "It is time to return #Syria to the #Arab family." He further said, "May Allah bless you and the ##Syrian people.

https://twitter.com/VanessaBeeley/status/1637779312936878080?s=20

11/25

The ever-stoic #Assad looked emotional as he thanked his people for their support and Mohamed said that #Syria would overcome its challenges. Assad said their fathers were like brothers. Mohamed said their nations were family.

12/25

#Assad's wife, the British-born Asma was on the trip as well. Once known as "the Desert Rose" and "the ME's Princess Diana," she has been smeared along with her husband for years. She met with the Shiek's mother to discuss humanitarian issues

gulfnews.com/uae/government…

13/25

However, for all of this, serious challenges with #Turkiye remain, as #Erdogan has occupied some of the country. The deputy FMs of #Syria, #Russia, #Turkiye, and #Iran met in #Moscow at the beginning of April.

thecradle.co/article-view/2…

14/25

#Assad has continued to refuse to meet directly with #Erdogan as long as #Turkiye occupies #Syria. This is one of the biggest sticking points of final normalization. The upcoming #TurkiyeElections are a big wildcard.

reuters.com/world/middle-e…

15/25

Importantly, #SaudiArabia invited #Syria to an #ArabLeague meeting, which Syria had been kicked out of at the beginning of the war

news.antiwar.com/2023/04/02/sau…

16/25

#Morocco, #Kuwait, and #Qatar are still opposing #Syria rejoining the #ArabLeague for their own reasons. Qatar has a lot of soft power because its royal family owns @AlJazeera. It demands a political settlement with "rebels"

news.antiwar.com/2023/04/13/sau…

17/25

Most of all, the US security state is anti-peace. They are holding onto a dead-end anti-#Assad policy and going around trying and failing to make states [besides #Kuwait] oppose peace and reconciliation.

english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2023…

18/25

The @AtlanticCouncil published a particularly shit take against peace, claiming this is somehow 1936, despite that the situations are exactly nothing alike. The Western thinktank class is nothing if not shameless.

19/25

Now, the #Saudi FM Prince Faisal has just gone to #Damascus to meet with #Assad. As @KevorkAlmassian explained, this is an enormous deal after so many years of war.

https://twitter.com/KevorkAlmassian/status/1648372859079737359?s=20

20/25

As with #Yemen, following, years of war, and in the aftermath of the #China-brokered #Saudi-#Iran reconciliation, #SaudiArabia moves towards a #MiddleEast of peace and cooperation, and the #US is left behind when states won't play its games.

thewaywardrabbler.substack.com/p/a-prospect-f…

21/25

The #Syrian #Arab Republic and #Assad somehow survived the world turning against them. Including regional powers #SaudiArabia, #Egypt, and #Turkiye. With those 3 powers wanting rapprochement, it is unstoppable.

22/25

As Thucydides wrote,

“For tyrants and imperial cities nothing is unreasonable if expedient, no one a kinsman unless sure; but friendship or enmity is everywhere a matter of time and circumstance.” [VI.85.1]

Now, it is a time and circumstance for peace and friendship.

23/25

#Damascus always wanted peace and friendship with #Syria's fellow #Arab and #Muslim states, and it looks as if they shall finally get it. The door is open, I hear it's a beautiful city, and hopefully soon all of Syria will be peaceful.

-30-

https://twitter.com/KevorkAlmassian/status/1648372884820181021?s=20

24/25

Thank you for reading! If you found this thread valuable please follow me on Twitter and subscribe to my newsletter, the Twitter/SS war is lowering my reach, it's a huge help if you sign up directly.

thewaywardrabbler.com

25/25

I forgot when writing this that #Assad met with the Sultan of #Oman on February 20th, which was his first foreign meeting with a Gulf leader since the war began. It was less of a big deal than the UAE though, as Oman always took a balanced approach
sana.sy/en/?p=301277
26/25