Get audio access with any FP subscription. Subscribe Now ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN

Get audio access with any FP subscription.

ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN

On a recent visit to Europe, Syria’s former rebel leader-turned-president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, had a pitch that would have been hard to imagine just a year and half ago. He told a packed audience at Chatham House in March that his government was trying to “transform Syria into an economic destination” for the entire Middle East. By investing in Syria’s reconstruction, Europe could tap into what Sharaa called the country’s “strategic geopolitical location in the region” while allowing millions of Syrian refugees to finally return home.

Sharaa has been busy making a version of this pitch ever since he toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Whether hosting foreign officials in Assad’s old presidential palace, or traveling abroad to meet heads of state such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and U.S. President Donald Trump, Sharaa has honed an investor-friendly message for how his country might rebuild after decades of dictatorship and civil war.

On a recent visit to Europe, Syria’s former rebel leader-turned-president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, had a pitch that would have been hard to imagine just a year and half ago. He told a packed audience at Chatham House in March that his government was trying to “transform Syria into an economic destination” for the entire Middle East. By investing in Syria’s reconstruction, Europe could tap into what Sharaa called the country’s “strategic geopolitical location in the region” while allowing millions of Syrian refugees to finally return home.

Sharaa has been busy making a version of this pitch ever since he toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Whether hosting foreign officials in Assad’s old presidential palace, or traveling abroad to meet heads of state such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and U.S. President Donald Trump, Sharaa has honed an investor-friendly message for how his country might rebuild after decades of dictatorship and civil war.

Indeed Sharaa’s foreign itinerary as president has often looked more like an investment tour. He has made four trips each to Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia; three to the United Arab Emirates; and two each to Russia and the United States. They correspond with early investment pledges for reconstruction, including a slew of projects unveiled last year that made headlines with their $14 billion price tag. In all, since coming to power, Sharaa’s government has touted tens of billions of dollars in investment deals to rebuild the country. These include major energy infrastructure such as power plants and oil and gas pipelines but also fanciful, speculative real estate schemes that you’d expect to see somewhere in the Gulf, not in one of Syria’s many war-ravaged cities.

The question now is, can Sharaa deliver on his lofty promises of a “new Syria” rising from the ruins? The answer may hinge on whom the real customer is for Sharaa’s rebuilding: ordinary Syrians or wealthy foreign investors.

Given the enormity of destruction across Syria, where........

© Foreign Policy