In the months since the militant opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stunned the world by bringing down the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in early December 2024, Syria has faced many pressing concerns. The country is ravaged and war-torn. More than 90 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, the economy is shattered, and basic infrastructure is in ruins. Syria’s new leaders—including former HTS head Ahmed al-Shara, who is now interim president, and Mohammed al-Bashir, the