Does Mideast Peace Run Through Damascus?
Long isolated by Washington, shunned for its support of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, the Obama administration now appears to be courting Syria as a possible solution to the problems of the Middle East.
Syria has been using its influence over groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, traditionally viewed as “spoilers,” to drive the peace process, something that Washington appears to be using to its advantage.
Recently, a U.S. ambassador was named after a five-year absence. And in the space of the past month, Syria has been visited by American counter-terrorism experts –but also by the Iranian president.
It’s all a very delicate game of chess, says Damascus-based Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group.
“You have a lot of re-alignments going on, but not simply between good and bad, between being pro-U.S. or anti-U.S., it’s much more subtle than that,” said Harling.
Syrian political analyst Dr. Samir Altaqi said Syria has historically been in a sensitive and strategic position and is accustomed to navigating the turbulent waters that flow between competing interests.
“This is the case since more than 5000 years. Syria was always a political state,” said Altaqi.
“It was always a political entity between two big powers—the Romans and the Persians, Egyptians and Mesopotamia etc, which shows that it is in a strategic position, and to survive it has to work on culture and politics. We are a mercantile nation,” Altaqi.
But the worldview from Damascus can be quite different from that inside the U.S.
For example, I met praise for Iran’s nuclear program at a karaoke evening, in part of the old city.
“I say, “Good for them.” I envy them. We wish we were doing what they are doing right now,” said one man.
This man saw it as a brave act of defiance of the West, and a counterbalance to Israel.
In the meantime, Syria views Hamas and Hezbollah through a different prism than the United States government does.
Syria’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Dardari said: “The question of negative and positive is a relative matter. It’s again how you view things. Hamas and other resistance movements are a consequence of the basic problem in the region, i.e. the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan, and parts of Lebanon,” said Dardari. “When this occupation is over, through a comprehensive peace process, why would there be such resistance movements?”
Dardari is hopeful about the ratcheted-up engagement between the United States and Syria, and the delineation of points of divergence and convergence of views and interests.
“The discussion that has already started between the two countries is moving toward that point. It’s much better to understand each other and disagree on some points than not to understand each other in which case we disagree on everything,” Dardari said.
There are a lot of similarities between Syrians and Americans. But also differences. Probably the real common ground at this point, is the apparent goodwill on both sides to explore ways to rebuild the relationship and make it fruitful to both parties, and the region.