For a little more than a year, the Levantine nation of Syria has been free of the government of Bashar al-Assad, a Ba'athist authoritarian accused of war crimes and indiscriminate killings of at least 200,000 civilians, many of whom political opponents. Since his removal in December 2024, the country has been led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a rebel fighter-turned-politician who's expressed interest in normalizing relations with the West and has taken a hard stance against Iran.
Al-Sharaa's Presidency has adopted a more lenient stance on dissidents, and his official stance is that the country would move towards democratic elections. This relative political freedom has allowed for new polling in the nation, with one of the first international polls being run in October 2025 and January 2026. The survey, commissioned by the Council for a Secure America and carried out by YouGov, indicated that a majority of Syrian respondents expressed pro-Western attitudes. Specifically, 65 percent of Syrians described the role of the United States in Syria's political and economic affairs as positive, with 44% calling it "somewhat" positive, and another 19% calling it "very" positive. Only 17% of respondents said that America played a "somewhat" negative or "very" negative role in Syria. This could be because of the failed demonization of the West by Assad's government and the clear enrichment of Middle Eastern states that take a pro-America position.
On Israel, the surveyed Syrians held views that were largely pro-peace and anti-terrorism. In January of this year, 59% of respondents said that peace between Syria and Israel was either "very" or "somewhat" likely. This number is down from 64% in October 2025, but it's interesting that only 11% (October 2025) and 14% (January 2026) of respondents said that normalization was "somewhat" or "very" unlikely. This is because nearly 30% of respondents either declined to answer the question (potentially due to fear of local or national backlash for holding a strongly pro or anti-Israel position) or they said that it was neither likely nor unlikely. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of Syrians support signing a security arrangement with Israel aimed at ensuring Syria's safety and prosperity. 29% of respondents "strongly" supported the idea and 35% "somewhat" supported it.
Finally, when asked about Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist and political force Hezbollah's involvement in Syria, 70% of respondents categorized it as negative, with nearly 60% outwardly calling it "very negative." This isn't surprising. In Syria, Hezbollah served as a 7,000 fighter strong personal militia for Bashar al-Assad, with high-ranking officials even being tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Stuttgart, Germany.