Bashar al Assad’s misguided policies squandered opportunities for dialogue during the first Trump and the Joe Biden administration
In a historic meeting between Syrian transitional President Ahmed al Sharaa and US President Donald Trump in Riyadh, attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a remarkable shift in relations between Washington and Damascus took place.
In just six months, al Sharaa succeeded in accomplishing what former Syrian President Bashar al Assad had failed to achieve for a quarter century.
In fact, the opportunities arose for Assad to raise the level of dialogue with the White House during the terms of Trump (2017-2021) and US President Joe Biden (2021-2025), however, he squandered many of these opportunities, disappointing Arab and regional mediators, some of whom had sought to open channels of communication with him before his fall at the end of last year.
The last attempt at dialogue between the White House and Damascus came shortly before Assad’s departure for Moscow on December 8, 2024.
Another failure was the disregard for mediation by Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to broker talks between Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In 2017, the Trump administration began opening channels of communication with the Syrian regime to secure the release of American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in 2012.
Although Trump considered eliminating Assad for his use of chemical weapons in Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, then-US Secretary of Defense James Mattis opposed the idea, leading to US-UK-French military strikes against regime sites suspected of using chemical weapons.
Later, Trump sent a message to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to activate a direct dialogue channel for Tice’s release.
According to Major General Abbas Ibrahim, a former Lebanese security official, in the spring of 2020, US Ambassador Roger Carstens requested that a communication channel be opened with Ali Mamlouk, the director of Syrian National Security, to discuss the fate of the American journalist.
A meeting was held between the two sides, during which Damascus set conditions that included the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, the lifting of sanctions, and the resumption of relations, which had been suspended since 2012 after the withdrawal of the US ambassador to Damascus.
In August 2020, Stephen Gehlen, the US deputy special envoy for hostage affairs, contacted Bassam Sabbagh, the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, to arrange a meeting.
Sabbagh took the matter to Damascus, where he received instructions from Assad not to present any position during the meeting.
During this meeting, Gehlen surprised Sabbagh by indicating US Ambassador Roger Carstens’s desire to visit Damascus secretly.
In light of these arrangements, Carstens, along with US Presidential Assistant Kash Patel, visited Damascus in August 2020, where they met with Ali Mamlouk.
This visit wasn’t the first of its kind; it was preceded by three similar visits by US officials.
During this visit, the Americans discussed the importance of cooperation between Damascus and Washington on the Tice case, emphasizing that progress on this issue could lead to positive political changes in relations between the two countries.
However, Mamlouk was obliged to respond that the regime had no information about Tice.
A Western source said that this visit was a golden opportunity for Assad to open channels of communication with the Trump administration, but he squandered it, as he has missed other opportunities.
In 2021, Major General Abbas Ibrahim’s mediation was renewed, at the request of the United States, to reveal the fate of journalist Austin Tice.
Ibrahim revealed that Debra Tice, Austin’s mother, had pressured the US administration to resolve the case, prompting President Biden to issue strict instructions to resolve the issue.
Despite this pressure, Assad refused to receive the American delegation, reflecting the Syrian regime’s continued squandering of opportunities.
