Weekly Panorama: Ambitious projects for Damascus amid internal decline

Arab newspapers published over the past week addressed the “ambitious” projects of Syria’s interim government, the situation in Iraq, as well as developments in the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Sharaa Proposes an Alternative Energy Corridor… The Return of “Ambitious” Projects

On the Syrian front, Al-Akhbar wrote that Syria had, for years, sought to capitalize on its geographical location politically and economically by proposing various regional projects, especially during the first decade of the millennium, benefiting from its openness to neighboring countries such as Iraq and Turkey. However, these projects either failed and negatively impacted the economy, remained unimplemented geopolitical proposals, or turned into frozen memorandums of understanding.

The newspaper noted that the outbreak of war in Syria effectively ended the prospects of implementing those initiatives, shifting the priority toward reconnecting internal geography. At the same time, regional powers worked to obstruct these projects. Nevertheless, the transitional government has returned to proposing some of these initiatives, taking advantage of international changes—most notably the repercussions of tensions in the Gulf and disruptions to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz—along with U.S. support, led by Donald Trump, for interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. This includes the idea of turning Syria into an alternative energy corridor toward Europe.

In this context, the “Four Seas Connection” initiative emerged as a modified version of the “Five Seas Project,” excluding the Red Sea, which raised questions about the reasons for this exclusion and the project’s feasibility. Despite emphasizing its strategic importance—especially given Europe’s need for alternative energy sources after the Russia–Ukraine war—its implementation faces major challenges, including financing costs, fragile internal stability, and damaged infrastructure.

The newspaper concluded that there is a general consensus that the current proposal carries a media-oriented and somewhat hasty character, at a time when addressing internal economic and security conditions remains the primary priority and a prerequisite for any large regional project.

Al-Zaidi’s Appointment Deepens Iraq’s Government Formation Crisis

In Iraq, Al-Arab (London) reported that assigning Ali al-Zaidi to form the government does not mean overcoming the political crisis, but rather moving it into a more complex phase involving the distribution of influence among competing forces.

It added that the balance between the United States and Iran continues to cast a shadow over the Iraqi scene, making the formation of a stable government dependent on a complex web of internal and external pressures.

Easing the Strait of Hormuz Crisis… The United States as the Biggest Beneficiary

Meanwhile, Independent Arabia examined the impact of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz on oil markets, noting that the world has moved toward strategies aimed at mitigating the crisis rather than finding real alternatives to this vital passage.

It explained that producing countries have resorted to logistical solutions such as pipelines and strategic reserves to compensate for part of the supplies, while rising prices have led to a relative balance between supply and demand. The report highlighted that the United States has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the crisis by increasing its oil and gas exports, while Gulf countries and Asian economies heavily dependent on energy have suffered significant losses.

ANHA