Could lifting U.S. sanctions bring peace to Syria?

Just two weeks ago, Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told me he was skeptical about removing sanctions on Syria. In his view, the rebels who ousted former President Bashar al-Assad had yet to prove themselves as a force for stability.

“It’s harder to run a government than it is to be a terrorist,” Zinke said.

But after President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday afternoon that the United States would look to normalize relations with Damascus, Zinke said he’s on board.

“I’m all for it,” Zinke said. “He’s offering Syria a chance to be a democracy. I think it’s in the best interest of the United States and the region. And you saw the reactions from his Middle East partners. I mean, all of it was very positive.”

In an announcement before the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum on Tuesday that prompted a prolonged standing ovation from attendees, Trump pledged to end U.S. economic sanctions on Syria.

“There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the government and keeping peace. That’s what we want to see,” Trump said. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a chance at greatness.”

The announcement was followed by a meeting Wednesday morning between Trump and Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former member of al-Qaeda turned statesman.

The change would allow foreign investments to enter Syria more easily, which is key to restoring services like the country’s power grid and relieving an acute humanitarian crisis.

The United States has imposed various penalties on Syria and its trading partners since 2011, when the government, under the leadership of Assad, launched a brutal, 14-year war to suppress political adversaries. In that conflict, the Assad regime became infamous for its many human rights abuses, including political kidnappings, torture, and even chemical warfare against civilians.

In December, a group of militias led by al-Sharaa took control of the capital city of Damascus, forcing Assad to flee to Russia.

In the view of Joshua Landis, co-director for the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, Trump’s decision strengthens the chance of success for Syria’s new self-proclaimed president.

“Without sanctions relief [al-Sharaa’s] economy was certain to fail. Now he has a chance to succeed and blow some life back into the country. This is a diplomatic victory on a scale with his military conquest of Damascus,” Landis said on Tuesday.

Al-Sharaa has promised a more transparent government, providing for equal treatment under law to Syria’s many religious sects and ethnic minorities. In the past, religious extremism has led to pronounced violence and bloodshed.

While those tensions still exist—as evidenced by the deaths of over 1,000 victims of a religious extremism attack earlier this year—Zinke believes Syria can rise above those sectarian conflicts like some of the countries around it.

“Iraq is a country of Sunni, Shia, and Kurds,” Zinke said, referring to many of the same political and religious sects present in Syria. “They’ve somehow stitched it together.”

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., recently returned from a visit to Syria. He believes neighboring countries—and the United States—will reap benefits from investing in the war-torn country.

“They have quite a bit of natural resources, but they also have the ability to draw a pipeline that can cut off 10 days of transportation from Iraq. So, you do have the ability to utilize a kind of a trade route that would cut off substantial time, which is economically beneficial,” Mills said, adding that economic vitality could improve government stability and eventually reduce violence on its own.

“After so much destruction what we have to think about is basic necessities,” Mills said.

While he hasn’t seen any specific proposals from the White House yet, Mills said an easy way to do that would be to undo international banking restrictions against Syria. That would allow personal funds to reenter the country.

“People who [have] family members in Syria can then transfer their money to them to help them because they just came out of 10-plus years of war.” Mills said.

At least one Democratic member of the foreign affairs committee didn’t applaud the president immediately but said he hopes for positive change.

Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., said he wants to see the specifics of what would change first.

“In general, getting to this point is a good thing. It just has to be justified by whatever the facts are on the ground,” Latimer told me. “It’s aspirational. If the new government is making steps towards making good relationships with their neighbors and the violence is going to be something of the past—then it’s a positive thing to move in this direction.”