Some interesting information about HTS in Syria including that they are supposedly a technocratic (https://warontherocks.com/2024/12/the-patient-efforts-behind-hayat-tahrir-al-shams-success-in-aleppo/) government and "moderate" Salafist (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-political-jihad-of-syrias-hayat-tahrir-al-sham/id1364539980?i=1000679760519). Richard Hanania keeps saying how optimistic he is that this is a new Syria: https://www.richardhanania.com/p/syria-and-uncle-sam-as-the-hegelian

https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1866567538991304967

https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1867212659999027396.

Resolved by LLM in five years using the prompt:

In 2024, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham overthrew the government of Bashar al-Assad and observers were uncertain whether the future of Syria would be hardcore Salafist (like the Taliban in Afghanistan) or moderate and technocratic (like the UAE, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia). Now, five years from now, which would you say the government of Syria is closer to? Please respond YES (closer to 2024 UAE) or NO (Closer to 2024 Afghanistan).

UAE: YES

Afghanistan: NO

If Syria no longer exists: N/A