Wassim Nasr: My Inside Account of Macron’s Syria Visit

French war reporter and global jihadism expert Wassim Nasr was part of the presidential press party during Emmanuel Macron’s recent visit to Damascus. He shares his first-hand account not only of what happened between Macron and Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa during the visit, but also what he discovered afterwards, during a trip to Aleppo and to the northern town of Kobane.

Wassim and Thomas discuss:

• What it was like inside Macron’s presidential delegation to Syria

• France–Syria relations after the fall of Bashar al-Assad

• Macron and Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Umayyad Mosque and Mount Qasioun

• Islamic State bombings during Macron’s Damascus visit

• French investment in Syrian reconstruction, energy, ports and transport

• Aleppo’s security, political representation and slow post-war recovery

• Kobani, SDF integration, PKK influence and Arab–Kurdish tensions

• Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Islamist pragmatism and Syria’s dependence on his leadership

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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