In December 2024, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – now acting president under the name Ahmed al-Sharaa – overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad (Reuters, 2024). By November 2025, al-Sharaa had already been received at the White House (The Guardian, 2025). The HTS case is paradigmatic: a group once aligned with al-Qaeda has progressively adopted a language of statecraft, culmnating in international diplomatic recognition following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
How can a group designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the United Nations be-
come, within a matter of months, a diplomatic interocutor recognised by Washington, Paris and the Arab world?
Download and read the full article:
