To secure sanctions relief from the West, Syria's new leaders will likely initially take some symbolic steps toward forming an inclusive democratic government, but they will struggle to complete this process and may be unwilling to relinquish power, which could eventually see those sanctions be re-imposed. On Jan. 27, the European Union agreed to a roadmap to ease sanctions on Syria at a foreign ministerial meeting in Brussels, Belgium. However, member countries still need to agree on technical details before the European Union can legally adopt the suspension. The same day, the French foreign minister said that the European Union would lift sanctions on Syria's energy and transport sectors, as well as on the country's financial institutions to facilitate financial inflows into Syria. Since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Bashar al Assad's regime on Dec. 8, countries have increasingly considered removing sanctions on HTS, which the European Union and...
