The adage goes, “No news is good news,” and a lack of headlines generally means that all should be well. In the case of Syria, that is true to some extent, though during the latter years of the conflict, numbness to Assad’s many crimes meant that reporting seemed to dwindle as observers accepted his “victory”. Nevertheless, Syria is generally out of the headlines when considering the region more broadly. There can be no question that the state is in a much better place than it was before 8 December 2024, but headlines in recent days remind us that there is still a great deal to consider.

There have undoubtedly been many successes in Syria since the removal of Bashar Al-Assad. A mafia-like family no longer rules the state as if it were its own fiefdom, and the overthrow of the Assad regime, achieved while Syria’s territorial integrity remained intact, should not be taken for granted. In many cases, states emerging from civil war are very different entities after a conflict than they were before it.

The removal of US and EU sanctions, as well as Syria’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, is testament to intensive lobbying and advocacy efforts. Syria is clearly being taken seriously on the international stage, in contrast to when it was ruled by Assad and was essentially a pariah. 

An interesting point to note in an era of increased migration and refugee flows is the opposite direction in which many Syrian refugees are heading: instead of leaving Syria, they are returning. There is a degree of hope attracting people back. Transitional justice, while imperfect, is being applied in Syria, and parliamentary elections and parliamentary functions are a step in the........

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