Warlord, jihadi or nation-builder?
An interview with Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa
In his first interview since assuming the Syrian presidency on January 29th, Ahmed al-Sharaa sat down with The Economist and laid out his vision for rebuilding Syria’s smashed and bankrupt state. Forty-eight hours into his tenure, the former al-Qaeda leader in Syria outlined a timetable for taking Syria in “the direction of” democracy and promised elections. Many outsiders hoped that his rise would mark Syria’s strategic shift out of the clutches of Iran and Russia and into the Western fold. In fact, he spoke harshly about America’s “illegal” military presence in Syria, welcomed talks with Russia about its military bases and warned Israel that its advance into Syria since the fall of the Assad regime “will cause a lot of trouble in the future”.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Warlord, jihadi or nation-builder? ”
From the February 8th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
More from Middle East & Africa
Itamar Ben-Gvir has presided over horrific abuse in Israel’s prisons
And he is proud of it
Abiy Ahmed dreams of remaking Ethiopia in his image
The prime minister’s re-election is certain. Ethiopia’s future is less so
What an America-Iran deal might look like
Donald Trump says an agreement is close. But also that he is in no rush
Donald Trump is still looking for a quick fix in Iran
But he has delayed another round of military strikes, at least for now
The mother of the world v the upstart
Why Egypt needs and fears the United Arab Emirates
Israel’s economy is booming
Its endless wars help explain why