Syria

AGSI experts assess the trends likely to shape the Gulf region and U.S. foreign policy in 2026.

New investment deals, mainly from the Gulf states and Turkey, are opening a path for Syrian reconstruction. But the fragile security situation and financial environment remain hurdles for foreign investment.

On January 8, AGSI hosted a virtual roundtable with its leadership and scholars as they look ahead and assess trends likely to shape the Gulf region and U.S. foreign policy during the coming year. 

Saudi Arabia’s early, front-loaded engagement in Syria is part of a preemptive strategy to shape conditions before rival actors can fill the vacuum.

While the Syrian president is the one coming to Washington, he and President Trump each have flipped the script, surprising skeptics with bold action and fresh approaches, opening a desperately needed conversation on Syria.

Decentralized governance efforts in the region, while offering promise to societies fractured by years of dictatorship and war, will be messy, inconsistent, and vulnerable to reversal and external manipulation.

The disconnect on Syria is so profound it risks rupturing the assessment of shared interests that underlies the Abraham Accords and the tentative efforts by others in the Gulf to find the right circumstances and timing to sign on to that project.

On July 31, AGSI hosted a discussion on Syria's reconstruction efforts.