Syria flips the script. It鈥檚 an island of calm in the stormy Middle East.
| Damascus and Douma, Syria
While the rest of the Middle East is once again seized by uncertainty and eruptions of tit-for-tat rocket and drone strikes in the U.S.-Iran war, Syrians are experiencing a calm hope.
Some are even calling it a 鈥渞evival.鈥�
Water is plentiful, electricity is around the clock. At night, the capital city and surrounding countryside are largely lit up, a far cry from the dark expanse that engulfed greater Damascus a few months ago.
Why We Wrote This
Decades of dictatorship culminated in 15 years of war and turmoil in Syria, making the country a focal point of hardship in the Middle East. But with the region torn asunder by the U.S.-Iran war, a relatively peaceful Syria is now an outpost of progress and hope.
The airport is busy once more. Ride-hailing apps summon Gen Z Syrian drivers at the wheel of brand-new luxury Chinese cars with refreshing air conditioning.
Western goods flood the market. Young people talk of starting businesses, and new restaurants, gas stations, shopping malls, and private schools are opening up.
The expressions of hope notwithstanding, Syria faces growing pains, including inflationary pressures, an unequal distribution of opportunity, and the legacy of decades of dictatorship that culminated in civil war. Yet after 15 years of conflict and chaos that made Syria an island of acute turmoil in a regional sea of relative calm, Syrians are now living a Middle East in reverse.
鈥淔or the first time, we feel more safe than other countries in the Middle East,鈥� says Israa, a government worker from the Damascus countryside. 鈥淧eople from Dubai are coming here to escape war while we are leaving our fears behind.鈥�
鈥淲e are not enjoying schadenfreude at there being war elsewhere in the region,鈥� says Dia Dakkak, a trader and shop manager. 鈥淏ut after years of suffering and being patient, it is now our turn in Syria to develop, progress, and step toward a better future.
鈥淢ost importantly, this time, the war doesn鈥檛 involve us.鈥�
Economic challenges
Ahmed is one of many bullish Syrian investors; he has opened three business and a factory within the past six months.
鈥淎fter decades of being terrorized and stymied by the criminal, mafia regime, business is booming,鈥� he says.
Despite such buoyancy, steep economic challenges remain. Job creation is sluggish, and large-scale reconstruction has yet to begin. Gulf countries have signed off on billions of dollars of investment, but help from Western governments has yet to arrive.
鈥淭he economy may be improving statistically while ordinary citizens experience little immediate improvement in their daily lives,鈥� says Yasser al-Mishal, vice dean of the Faculty of Economics at Damascus University, describing it as a 鈥渢roubling paradox.鈥�
Multiple officials and analysts note that Syrians have so far shown patience, but it is unclear how long it will last.
The Syrian government has passed an investment law enacting sweeping incentives for foreign and local investors, strengthened its central bank, and is auditing its financial system to identify and fix compliance gaps. A new Parliament, indirectly elected, is to convene this month.
In the meantime, Syria faces an array of challenges that could limit its potential for growth:
- The U.S. Congress has yet to drop Syria鈥檚 designation in 1979 as a state sponsor of terrorism during the autocratic rule of Hafez al-Assad. These sanctions, combined with a large gray, cash-run economy, are scaring away most Western investors and are leading banks and financial institutions to classify the country as 鈥渉igh risk.鈥�
- Wild fluctuations in the Syrian lira鈥檚 exchange rate prevent many young people from opening small businesses.
- At a high-level U.N.-sponsored conference last week 鈥� the 鈥� no Western investor or U.S. official attended, to the disappointment of Syrian business and industry leaders.
Nevertheless, Syrians are looking positively toward the future.
鈥淎 year and a half ago, we would get two hours of electricity per day, now we get 24 hours of electricity,鈥� says Mr. Dakkak, the shop manager. 鈥淲e are connected to the world. As the next generation, we are optimistic about our future.鈥�
Rising cost of living
Still, the optimism and economic growth create their own inflationary pressures.
With the return of state-provided electricity, the government has raised electricity rates by as much as 6,000%.
Electronics and other foreign products are flooding a market that was strictly controlled by the former regime, which banned most goods. Meat, poultry, and produce are getting more expensive, increasingly out of reach for middle-class families.
鈥淓lectronics and tech are more available, but the prices of basic goods are becoming out of reach,鈥� says Mustafa, an employee at a Damascus mobile phone and electronics shop. 鈥淵ou can buy a smartphone, but it鈥檚 getting harder to buy food.鈥�
Vendors who used to sell vegetables by the 3-kilogram box (about 6.6 pounds), now say customers grab just a handful of potatoes or two onions. Syrians report struggling to find lamb, if they can even buy it.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 afford the rent of my shop and I haven鈥檛 been able to pay the last three months of my electricity bills,鈥� says one produce vendor on Shaalan Street, who withheld his name for privacy concerns.
鈥淲e thought [interim Syrian President Ahmed] al-Sharaa and this government would make good changes at first, but since they came in, all we have seen are prices rising. They fooled us. My heart wants to explode from the stress!鈥�
A lot of the shocks Syrians are experiencing are due to a country shifting from a state-managed economy led by a mafia-like dictatorship to a free and open market, economists say.
鈥淢any citizens compare current prices to historically subsidized prices鈥� under the old regime, notes Dr. Mishal. 鈥淭his comparison creates the perception that prices have skyrocketed when, in reality, much of the change reflects the removal of these artificial subsidies.鈥�
鈥淏ut we are still positive,鈥� says Mustafa, the mobile phone vendor. 鈥淲e have options, are connected to the globe, and we have the freedom to open up businesses without the fear of a regime that will take everything away from us. We are optimistic for development and progress in Syria.鈥�
Israa, the government worker, says young Syrians are finally 鈥渓iving a life stolen from us at childhood.鈥�
鈥淲e can work, cover our costs, go out with our friends,鈥� she says, 鈥渨e are living our full lives and we see a chance for things to get better and better.鈥�
鈥淭hank God, we are happy鈥�
This positivity extends from upper-middle-class business districts to more hardscrabble working-class neighborhoods such as Barzeh.
There, Samira Ebo, a vegetables vendor in her 70s, smiles as she runs a street-side stand that is the lone source of income for her 18-person family.
鈥淩ent is slamming people, customers who used to buy a kilo of vegetables can barely afford a few pieces,鈥� she says. As she speaks, a customer passes on peas costing 90 cents per kilogram and opts instead for a single eggplant.
鈥淏ut thank God, we are happy,鈥� Ms. Ebo continues. 鈥淣o one is taking our young men off to be tortured or killed. We can look to the future with hope.鈥�
The slow but steady improvements are also encouraging Syrian expatriates 鈥� some 4 million Syrians, including hundreds of thousands of professionals, who were driven abroad by the war and live as far away as Canada and Australia.
Raad Hussein, a 34-year-old dentist working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is one of many eyeing a return home, sensing the country is on track, but just not ready yet.
He is anxious to return to Syria and open a dental clinic in Damascus, but is waiting for banking and digital infrastructure to improve.
鈥淎ll I need is to cover my costs, I am not looking to make large profits,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ll of us want the chance to be able to work and contribute to developing our country.
鈥淚 was more scared living under the threats of rockets and drones in Riyadh than I was during the war in Syria,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hile the rest of the region is living in uncertainty, we as Syrians are finally standing tall and proud.鈥�
Walaa Buaidani in Damascus supported reporting for this article.
