00:00Let's talk now to Samuel Romani, the tutor of politics and international relations at the University of Oxford.
00:06Samuel, welcome back to the program. What is the significance of this visit and this announcement?
00:12Well, I mean, it's really quite a milestone, right? It's the bringing of Syria back out of the cold.
00:17It's the first time a foreign secretary or anyone of this seniority has visited Syria since before the civil war began in 2011.
00:25And it also indicates that Britain is on the forefront of reestablishing diplomatic ties with Syria.
00:33We saw in April 2025 that they lifted sanctions on key government agencies, including the ministries of interior and defense.
00:39And that was for a foreshadowing, along with what Switzerland did, of the U.S. decision to alleviate sanctions.
00:45And now Britain is taking the lead in terms of reengaging Syria diplomatically.
00:49Will Syria automatically, do you think, given what it's been through, its history, pivot towards the United States and the U.K.?
01:00It's really hard. I mean, the Syrians obviously are trying to see where they can potentially get support from.
01:06And obviously, they've ruled out a strong relationship with Iran because of the history of Iran and the IRGC backing Assad.
01:13But they still maintain a door of dialogue open with Russia.
01:17And the Russians even are harboring hopes of one day returning to their Tartus and Khamenean bases, though increasingly they're pivoting to Libya.
01:26And they're also pursuing closer ties with the European Union and with the United States.
01:31So Syria is playing a multi-vector policy game, but they're encouraged, obviously, by the alleviation of U.S. sanctions, by the 94.5 million pounds in British aid announced today.
01:41And if Syria and Israel have some kind of a diplomatic breakthrough, then I think the West will come as a more prominent partner for Syria's new government.
01:49As we've said, this country has been engaged in civil war for a generation.
01:53How stable is this new government in Syria?
01:57Well, I think that the government has stable authority over Damascus.
02:00I have many colleagues and friends who have visited in recent months who have confirmed that the situation there remains stable.
02:07So there's no risk of an imminent regime change.
02:10But there's certainly a lot of fault lines in areas where there are problems and insecurities to look out for.
02:16The northern part of Syria, near the border with Turkey, remains an area where the Turks are determined to ensure that their safe zone is as expansive as possible to keep out the spread of PKK and Kurdish militant activity.
02:29That was raised during Lamy's visit to Damascus.
02:32Israel continues to pose a military threat to coastal infrastructure.
02:36Though that might ease if there's an understanding between Syria and Israel in the coming weeks.
02:42And ISIS is making a resurgence as well.
02:44We've seen the first direct clashes between ISIS and the new government also, potentially threatening larger cities like Aleppo.
02:51So the hold on power in Damascus is secure, but there are many fault lines in the north with Israel and with ISIS that we should be watching out for very closely.
03:00Samuel, good to talk to you.
03:01Samuel Romani, the tutor of politics and international relations at the University of Oxford.
