This article analyses the political dynamics that have resulted in the return of the Syrian regime to the League of Arab states and progressive process of normalisation on the regional scene. While a potential deepening of the normalisation process would be beneficial to Damascus, an early economic recovery and reconstruction process in the country faces numerous obstacles connected to national and foreign elements.

Joseph Daher is a part-time Affiliate Professor at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, where he works under the aegis of the ‘Syrian Trajectories’ research project in the Middle East Directions Programme. Additionally, he teaches at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and is the author of Hezbollah: Political Economy of the Party of God (Pluto Press, 2016) and Syria After the Uprisings: The Political Economy of State Resilience (Pluto Press 2019), also creating the blog Syria Freedom Forever. He has a Doctorate in Development Studies at SOAS, University of London (2015) and a Doctorate in Political Science at Lausanne University (2018).