Syria's 'New' Regime: Same Old Asking For Handovers
The article notes that Syria, now under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, wants Lebanon to hand over officers who were part of the previous regime. This, we're told, is part of a plan to 'undermine' the new leadership. One might charitably call it a continuity of state. Others might note that regimes in the region, regardless of their foundational mythology, rarely miss an opportunity to weaponize past
allegiances against their neighbors. What the headline doesn't scream is how often these 'new eras' simply rebrand the same power dynamics. Syria demanding citizens from Lebanon? We've seen this before. It's almost as if the concept of national sovereignty is selectively applied in the Levant, particularly when a larger, more powerful neighbor has a bone to pick. The real story isn't the request,
it's the uncomfortable implication that such requests, dressed in the guise of 'new governance,' are normalized.