Photo: Reuters
In Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump held his first-ever meeting with Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom Washington considered a terrorist just a few months ago. This gesture opens a new era in the geopolitics of the Middle East and confirms the US policy of abandoning the doctrine of foreign intervention. This was reported by Reuters.
The photos of Trump and Sharaa’s handshake, released on Wednesday, are already being called a symbol of the birth of a new world order. Back in December 2024, Sharaa, a former commander of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, appeared in Damascus with militants and a $10 million bounty on his head. Only five months later, he was already shaking hands with the American president.
“This is the end of the war against ISIS. And the end of the era of intervention,” Trump said, promising to work to lift sanctions on Syria.
From ‘terrorist’ to state leader
Sharraa’s journey is a dramatic one. He was considered to be associated with al-Qaeda in Iraq, served time in the US Camp Bucca camp, fought against the occupation of Iraq and later against the Assad regime. But today he stands for a united Syria and is already negotiating with the leader of the pro-American Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, on the reintegration of the eastern territories.
A symbol of the new Middle East
The meeting with Sharraa is not only a signal of the end of the “Global War on Terror” launched after 9/11, but also part of a broader geopolitical transformation. Trump has openly criticised the “nation-builders” and Western non-governmental organisations, which he believes have failed in Afghanistan and Iraq:
“The modern Middle East was created not by neoconservatives or liberal foundations, but by the peoples of the region themselves. And it’s time to let them determine their own destiny,” Trump said in Riyadh.
He explicitly stated that the US would no longer “lecture” other countries. The “America First” policy implies a return to national interests, not imperial hegemony.
The multipolar world and the role of China
This new course in Washington coincides with a global shift in favour of Asia: China is supplying technology to Pakistan, Iran is strengthening ties with Beijing, and Middle Eastern countries are seeking to join the BRICS and SCO. The US is shifting its focus from Europe to the East.
It is significant that Trump’s first international trip in his second term was to Saudi Arabia, just as it was in 2017. This is a clear signal: The Middle East is once again in the centre of American attention, but on very different terms.
