US envoy says ‘benevolent monarchies’ have proven most effective in West Asia governance
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack has sparked renewed debate on, saying “benevolent monarchies” have historically “worked best” in the West Asia region.
He made the remarks on Sunday during a panel on Syria at the Doha Forum, where he praised the new regime in the Arab country, which took over by force amid intense backup Israeli air raids on the nation’s civilian and defensive infrastructures.
Barrack lauded the regime, which is run by former Daesh and al-Qaeda commander Mohammad Jolani, for, what he called, its “epic” and “heroic” achievements since its ouster of Syria’s former democratically-elected government.
Barrack claimed that the international community had to let Syria develop its own ruling system.
Observers denounced the latter remarks as a means of sidestepping the West’s robust and sustained military and intelligence support for the Israeli regime, which has historically enabled Tel Aviv’s regional aggression, including the ferocious Israeli raids that helped Jolani overthrow Assad’s government.
The comments, they added, also served to ignore more than a decade of Western support for Takfiri terrorists inside Syria that preceded last year’s takeover.
Syria, Barrack alleged, had to rather “form the kind of government and inclusive regime that they, the Syrians, wish to establish.”
A billionaire real estate investor appointed by President Donald Trump, Barrack has repeatedly outraged regional peoples with markedly controversial statements since assuming his role.
In August, he touched off a constant torrent of outrage after he told the journalists trying to ask him questions during a press conference in Beirut to “be quiet” and stop being “animalistic.” “Act civilized, act kind, act tolerant,” he told them at the time.
Trump’s envoy to Turkey — who once called Lebanese journalists “animalistic” — is now tangled in a disturbing Epstein email scandal. A 2016 exchange shows Epstein asking him to “send photos of you and child,” a request that, given Epstein’s criminal past, feels far from innocent. pic.twitter.com/oyAamYbGuu
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) November 13, 2025
In September, he admitted that the United States was arming Lebanon's armed forces so they can fight the Lebanese people. He also said peace in the West Asia region was “an illusion.”
Adding to his Sunday remarks, the envoy, however, acknowledged that Western regional interference had repeatedly produced “paralysis” rather than stability.
“Almost every decision that the West has imposed on the region, rather than allowing it to evolve on its own, has been a mistake,” he said, citing the cases of Libya and Iraq.
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US envoy says ‘benevolent monarchies’ have proven most effective in West Asia governance
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