Syria-Arab League Normalization Signals Change in Strategies

On Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad appointed Houssam al-Din Ala as Syria’s ambassador to Cairo and the Arab League, following the 22-member council’s decision to give Syria its seat back in the league in May.

RELATED:

Syrian Archaeologists Unveil 1600-Year-Old Greek Mosaic

Political expert Osama Danura said that the change reflects that Arab countries are acknowledging that combating terrorism, rejecting foreign intervention, and other factors are key to solving the Syrian crisis.

In addition, Syria’s return to the Arab world is a move that “cuts the road” ahead of foreign intervention, which indicates a good start for building constructive economic, social, and political relations among the Arab states and with other regional countries.

“The Arabs could facilitate Syria to reach a political solution that would be welcomed in the Arab world if no foreign agenda was involved,” Danura noted.

Writer Mohammad al-Omari said that today the Arab countries seem to shelve differences and embark on a new era of understanding and consensus. He believes Syria is now close to a political solution considering the change in the attitude of Arab countries.

“The return of Syria to the Arab League doesn’t mean resolving the Syrian crisis, but it should facilitate and accelerate the formation of mechanisms of the solution,” he said.

The readmission of Syria into the Arab League (AL) signals a shift in Arab countries’ strategy toward Syria and its civil war: that an Arab solution instead of outside intervention is the key to solving the country’s protracted crisis.

After 12 years of broken ties and isolation, the Arab world came to realize that the Western-led strategy: the language of threat, as well as the economic and social blockades, are no cure to the Syrian war.

Instead, the war has exerted destabilizing impacts on the Arab countries and the rest of the world, manifested in weakened border security that resulted in drug trafficking, human trafficking, and the refugee crisis, among other issues.

Now the Arab countries start to reconnect with Syria to reverse the negative impact, in the hope of coming up with an Arab solution to the prolonged Syrian crisis to achieve a win-win. The restoration of Syria’s membership in the AL is a significant step.

Source link