From rupture to partnership: a communicational reading of the Gulf's shift towards Syria

The Syrian revolution profoundly shook the Arab consciousness. The unarmed and vulnerable population faced off against states, armed actors, and their own regime, which resorted to all repressive instruments to quell the uprising, without success.

On December 8, 2024, Bashar al-Assad, now former president, left Damascus for exile in Russia. The Arab and international world witnessed shocking scenes against defenseless civilians.

After the fall of the regime, the Gulf states—led by Saudi Arabia—moved quickly to reach out to Syria and reintegrate it into the international community after years of isolation. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took charge of the dossier and convinced Washington of the need to support Damascus and reintegrate it into its regional and international environment, a process that is visible today.

Looking back at the initial phase of the conflict, several Gulf countries supported the Syrian opposition politically and in the media, broke off relations with Damascus, and pushed for the suspension of its membership in the Arab League.

Meanwhile, the Gulf media constructed a narrative focused on the humanitarian tragedy, in contrast to the official Syrian discourse accusing those countries of financing a “conspiracy” and “terrorism.” Thus, the Syrian issue became a conflict of narratives as intense as the military one. The relationship between Syria and the Gulf began to raise questions that transcended diplomacy and resources, entering the realm of political communication and the construction of regional narratives: a journey that went from total rupture after 2011 to gradual reintegration and the search for a renewed Arab approach to managing the crisis within the Middle East stability project, in line with the Saudi vision of turning the region into “the new Europe.”

Since 2021, however, notable changes in Arab and Gulf positions have become apparent, driven by the exhaustion of the actors, the consolidation of the status quo, and the growing cost of prolonging Syria's isolation in the face of the expansion of other regional actors. This led the Gulf countries to work for Syria's return to the Arab League.

Their presence at the Jeddah Summit highlighted the need to reactivate the Arab role in managing the conflict, without this implying profound changes in the internal Syrian scenario.

Today, the dominant approach in the Gulf is “risk management”: curbing drug trafficking, limiting Iranian influence, addressing the refugee issue, and preventing state collapse. In this context, political discourse evolved from the language of rupture to that of the “Arab political process” and “Syria's return to its environment.” Humanitarian initiatives, especially after the 2023 earthquake, reinforced the Gulf's image as a humanitarian actor seeking to contain the tragedy rather than capitalize on it.

With the arrival of Ahmad al-Shara as president in Damascus, the Gulf countries intensified their support for Syria: flights to various cities resumed, missions were reactivated, and economic and humanitarian channels were opened. This political, economic, and social progress was accompanied by a crucial role for responsible communication in preventing internal fragmentation, bringing positions closer together on issues such as Suwayda or the Kurdish question, and placing Syrian stability within the logic of regional security, not narrow interests.

From this perspective, the reversal of Gulf support—led by Riyadh—in favor of stability in the Middle East requires the creation of a communication narrative based on three pillars: financing reconstruction within a political roadmap and local reconciliations; articulating a unified Arab voice that links Syria's return to a project of “collective Arab security”; and using international relations to shift the global debate from the “sanctions or normalization” dichotomy to a formula of “incentives in exchange for reforms.”

The Syrian dossier thus becomes a test of the Gulf's capacity—especially that of Saudi Arabia—to produce a “narrative of stability” when political and financial support is combined with an ethical communicative vision that brings Syria closer to a story of recovery than to a chronicle of permanent collapse.

In short, the Gulf's shift towards Syria, backed by Saudi Arabia, is not just a change of position, but a strategic turning point that redefines the Arab world's role in managing its crises and shaping the regional future with more mature and realistic tools.

Experience shows that political communication, managed responsibly, can transform complex issues and turn conflict scenarios into spaces for consensus.

Today, Syria faces a historic opportunity to regain its place in the Arab world, while the Gulf—led by Riyadh—faces the challenge of building a stable model based on cooperation, reconstruction, and lasting political balance.

If this process continues to advance at the same pace, the region could move from fragmentation to a stage of “serene recovery,” where a different Arab narrative for the future is written and generations capable of building peace, innovation, and prosperity are formed.

Dr. Hasan Alnajrani. Saudi journalist and academic