Al Shara's White House visit shows there is no going back for Syria

Two decades ago, Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara was imprisoned in an American-run detention centre in Iraq and later had a $10 million US bounty on his head. On Monday, he shook hands with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, the symbolic heart of American political power. Beyond the visit’s significance for Mr Al Shara personally, it was an historic moment for the Syrian people – the first time ever that a Syrian head of state has visited the White House.

In addition to the symbolism, there was plenty of substance. As well as cementing personal relationships with Mr Trump and his Cabinet, the White House confirmed that Mr Al Shara signed an agreement to join the International Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The Trump administration also intends to freeze Ceasar Act economic sanctions on Syria for 180 days.

Both moves will help the interim government in Damascus fight extremism at home and empower it to help rejuvenate Syria’s economy. On both fronts, there are difficult issues to resolve; at the weekend, Syrian security forces killed an ISIS member and arrested 71 others in in a major operation. Meanwhile, the cost of rebuilding the nation is formidable; last week a senior official told The National that Syria is seeking more than $30 billion to fully rehabilitate the country’s oil, mineral, electricity and water sectors.

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After his closed-door meeting with Mr Trump, Mr Al Shara went outside the White House to Lafayette Square, where a crowd of Syrian Americans had gathered to greet him, waving the country’s new flag. Many of these people belong to the two generations of Syrians who grew up with their country largely isolated from the West, their country languishing in the Soviet sphere or, more recently, estranged from much of the Arab world during the Bashar Al Assad era and the civil war.

Syrians gather around the White House to celebrate Ahmad Al Shara's visit

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It is important to recognise that this White House engagement was the culmination of Syria’s almost year-long reset with western countries. Whatever the complexities or imbalances that often characterise relationships, there is little doubt that positive relations with Washington, Arab, regional and European capitals are critical for Syria to find its feet in a fast-changing, increasingly complex global economy. Such relationships also build on the momentum of warming ties between Damascus and many of its regional neighbours.

Mr Al Shara has proved adept and persuasive in managing his country’s transition. Importantly, he has also reset relations with Russia, something many believed would be a much more sensitive and challenging process. By internationalising Syria’s security relationships and ending the era of sanctions, the country's leadership is laying the foundations for a stronger, more prosperous state.

This reset will also help to underpin the peace at a societal level. Syrians can say their country is back on the world stage, stabilising and will have a new relationship with more than one power bloc, largely ending the isolation of the past. Their desire not to go back is what could prove decisive as Syria confronts remaining challenges in the months and years ahead.