Syria is set to join the Global Coalition Against Daesh when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visits Washington in mid-November. The move will make Syria the 90th member of a group formed under U.S. leadership in September 2014. The existing 89 members include 36 European and 11 Arab countries as well as Türkiye, Asian and African countries, and other partners such as Interpol, NATO, and the Arab League.

Joining the coalition against the Islamic State group (IS) could bring a wide range of benefits to Syria, as was the case with Iraq, where the coalition operates at the official invitation of the government. In Syria’s eastern neighbor, the coalition supports stabilization efforts, including assistance in clearing mines and unexploded ordinance, restoring basic services such as electricity, water, education, and health, creating conditions for the recovery of local economies, enabling displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes, and supporting political and security reforms. The coalition also trains security forces and police to enhance security and the rule of law, and provides them with advice and equipment, such as technologies for combating improvised explosive devices. The Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS), run by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), established in 2015 and partially funded by the International Coalition, has funded more than 1,100 such projects in 28 locations across Iraq.

By joining the alliance, the Syrian government will also meet key international demands—namely, confirming its commitment to waging an effective campaign against terrorism and preventing its resurgence, coordinating directly with Coalition forces, exchanging intelligence information, conducting joint training and operations, and procuring advanced equipment for its forces, enhancing their combat and technical capabilities.

Joining the Coalition will also strengthen the government’s international legitimacy, thus accelerating the lifting of sanctions, especially UN measures imposed due to the designation of certain leading Syrian figures on terrorism lists. This will allow for an improvement in the country’s economic situation by allowing an influx of investment that is currently stalled due to sanctions.

Damascus’ membership of the alliance may also help resolve the question of northeastern Syria, by restoring the authority of the state and its control over Syria’s international borders. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that dominate the Autonomous Administration will also lose the advantage of being the sole Syrian partner of the coalition. That partnership and the associated powers will effectively be transferred to the central government, which will take on the task of managing prisons and camps housing IS members and their families, as well as potentially benefitting from the significant economic returns to be drawn from the natural resources currently controlled by the SDF.

Syria’s membership of the coalition also has certain benefits for the U.S., as it will legitimize the deployment and operations of American and coalition forces on Syrian soil. This will undermine calls for the withdrawal of American forces from Syria due to the lack of a legal basis for their presence—a point also repeatedly raised by the former regime and its Russian and Iranian allies, who conversely considered the presence of their own forces legitimate on the basis that they were there at the request of the Assad regime.

Syria’s adhesion to the alliance will also solve a major problem for the international community, especially for countries with citizens who joined IS and are now languishing in SDF prisons. These governments had prevented the SDF from trying and punishing their citizens due to the absence of internationally recognized national laws. However, if Damascus can regain control of northeastern Syria and take over management of the prison system, it can put these individuals on trial based on Syrian law—given that they committed their crimes on Syrian territory—then implement their sentences in Syrian prisons.

Finally, Syria’s accession to the Coalition represents a decisive break with the Assad regime, whose policies led to the country being classified as a state sponsor of terrorism, with the ensuing and isolation and political and economic sanctions. The move thus restores Syria to its Arab and regional environment, as a state that does not threaten its neighbors but preserves international peace and security.