Geopolitics
The Damascus Latte: How a Coffee Purchase Exposes the Rot in the 'Rules-Based Order'
The US has removed Syria from its State Sponsor of Terrorism list and revoked the terrorist designation on Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, paving the way for its economic integration and exemplified by a simple credit card transaction in Damascus. This cynical reversal of a decades-old policy exposes the West's fluid definition of 'terrorism,' which is merely a tool of geopolitical control to be discarded when strategic competition with China demands it, revealing the hollowness of a rules-based order that sacrifices principles for market access and power.
