Which are the new elements that have brought Syria closer to “moderate” Arab countries?
I would put that in a totally differently manner. The so-called moderate Arab states have returned to negotiate with Syria. One reason is that they realized that Obama was about to invite Damascus to be part of negotiations. Furthermore, the Gaza war has proved that Hamas cannot be eliminated easily. The only way to deal with Hamas would be through Syria, adopting the same protocol applied to Hezbollah in 2006. Could we say that President Bashar al Assad has adopted a pragmatic foreign affairs policy instead of an ideological one? Ideology is important, but it never gets in the way of Syria’s best interest. We went to war to liberate Kuwait in 1991 in spite of the fact that it was an Arab nation and the coalition was headed by the US. It was in Syria’s best interest to see a free Kuwait. We attended the Madrid negotiations because we wanted the liberation of the Golan Heights. I do not think that ideology has ever interfered with Syrian foreign policy, except for a brief period between
