From Wanted to Welcomed: Ahmed al‑Sharaa’s Unlikely Turn at the White House

In what analysts are calling a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is scheduled to visit the White House in early November — just days after both U.S. and U.N. sanctions against him were lifted.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. removed its sanction designation for al-Sharaa on November 7, ahead of his meeting with Donald Trump. Meanwhile the United Nations Security Council voted on November 6 to lift the sanctions under its aegis, rapporterar NGO:n The Internationel Crisis Group.

Al-Sharaa, once a rebel leader, is now being invited into Washington’s highest diplomatic space — a development described by the AP as “the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House”.

The visit comes amid deep strategic realignments in the region. According to Reuters, the United States is preparing to establish a military presence at a Damascus airbase and is brokering a security pact involving Syria and Israel.

This sequence of events raises urgent questions about accountability, diplomacy and the shifting balance of power in the Middle East — particularly when a formerly sanctioned figure is being brought into the heart of U.S. foreign-policy infrastructure.