From dictatorship to theocracy: Syria’s new Islamist threat

Not long ago, Western powers, Arab nations, and even the European Union spoke too soon—and too naively—about a so-called “new Syria.” 

The face they clung to was Ahmad al-Sharaa, a man now touted as an interim president, who was expected to usher in a Syria that would be free, democratic, and secular.

That fantasy is dead.

Ahmad al-Sharaa is not the answer. He is the problem.

A longtime Islamist agitator with deep roots in the radical Sunni networks that fueled Syria’s descent into chaos, al-Sharaa rose through the political vacuum with the backing of militant hardliners, not reformers. His ascent to power at the end of last year was not a democratic transition—it was a calculated seizure of power by ideological extremists, cloaked in the rhetoric of unity and liberation.

Since then, the mask has fallen.

The massacres of Alawite civilians, and now the targeted killings of Druze communities, are not isolated incidents. They are part of a broader strategy of sectarian cleansing. Ethnic and religious minorities who do not conform to al-Sharaa’s vision of a Sunni-dominated Islamist Syria are being marked for elimination. 

The Kurds, whose autonomous ambitions and secular values defy Islamist dogma, may well be the next victims.

What we are witnessing is not a revolution, but a replacement of one tyranny by another. The only difference is the flag. The instruments of repression remain the same: fear, ideology, and bloodshed.

Let us not forget who Ahmad al-Sharaa is. Long before his power grab, he was a known figure in conservative clerical circles, advocating Sharia-based governance and denouncing secularism as a Western invention. 

His affiliations with pan-Islamist movements were no secret. That this man is now being presented—by some—as a credible leader for Syria is not only dangerous. It is an insult to those who died demanding freedom, dignity, and democracy.

The international community must stop legitimizing Islamist strongmen disguised as transitional figures. Syria does not need another authoritarian ruler, whether he wears a military uniform or a prayer robe.

Al-Sharaa is not a transitional president. He is an Islamist despot in the making. And the world must say so—clearly, loudly, and without illusion.