Arab League Agrees To Reinstate Syria After 12 Years
The Middle East political alignment continues its “reset” away from US influence at a rapid pace, as the foreign ministers from Arab League member states have agreed to accept Syrian membership after a suspension that’s lasted 12 years.
In March Saudi Arabia and Syria agreed to begin the process of reopening their mutual embassies, which followed on the heels of the China-brokered Saudi-Iranian rapprochement.
The Arab League and many regional countries officially cut ties with Damascus in 2011 as the conflict erupted. Saudi Arabia and allies like Qatar and the UAE had helped the US spearhead regime change efforts in Damascus. However, Russia and Iran came to the aid of Syria in a war that took hundreds of thousands of lives and left much of the country in rubble.
President Assad survived and now these same countries are forced to ‘play nice’ given the centrality of Syria in the regional order. The US and Israel are worried over these developments, to say the least.
The restoration of ties between Assad and Arab powers has also been hastened due to the tragic earthquake of February 6th which rocked the region. Despite far-reaching US sanctions, countries poured in support in order to aid the rescue and relief efforts of the Syrian people.
