Syrian President Bashar Assad took an important first step [mid-October] by issuing a decree ordering his Foreign Ministry to proceed with an exchange of embassies and ambassadors with Lebanon. …
It will be up to both sides to determine history’s verdict on Assad’s decree: major turning point, minor footnote, or something in between. Whatever the case, making the most of it demands good-faith diplomacy by the two governments in order to improve their ability to cooperate and coordinate in ways that also better the lives of their respective populations. …
If Damascus wants the still-unfolding end of its international isolation to become permanent, there is no better way to proceed than by creating a regularized and stable relationship with Beirut. In addition, if Assad wants to retool his creaking economy— especially in an era of profound uncertainty owing to the global financial crisis—he will find no more productive partners than his Lebanese cousins, some of whom are already at work reinvigorating Syria’s banking sector.
In turn, Damascus can do wonders to improve Lebanon’s fragile security environment by, inter alia, helping it to shore up a state that has been steadily undermined for 30 years (often at Syrian urging). Both countries can benefit from the establishment of formal diplomatic ties within the parameters of mutual respect laid out by Lebanon’s president, Michel Suleiman, in his inaugural address. It may take some hard work and some difficult compromises, but the rewards would be well worth the effort for both sides. Access the full article>>