Abstract
More than a month has passed since Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group, became the de facto leader of Syria. Since then, he has dropped his nom de guerre in favour of his real name, Ahmed al-Shara, and has swapped his military attire for a suit and tie.
The change in government has led to cautious optimism among Syrians who have been celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. However, the rise of political Islam through a leader and armed groups with jihadist ideological roots has concerned many in Syria’s Druze, Alawite, Christian and Kurdish communities.
