Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbours and securing the return of the Golan Heights, have been the primary goals of the Syrian Arab Republic's foreign policy. At many points in its history, Syria has seen tension with its neighbours, such as Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Syria enjoyed an improvement in relations with several of the states in its region in the 21st century, prior to the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1969. It consists of 57 member states, 48 of which are Muslim-majority. The organisation claims to be "the collective voice of the Muslim world" and works to "safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony".
The dynamic between the League of Arab States and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been ambivalent, owing to the latter's varying bilateral conduct with each country of the former. Iran is located on the easternmost frontier of the Arab League, which consists of 22 Arab countries and spans the bulk of the Middle East and North Africa, of which Iran is also a part. The Arab League's population is dominated by ethnic Arabs, whereas Iran's population is dominated by ethnic Persians; and while both sides have Islam as a common religion, their sects differ, with Sunnis constituting the majority in the Arab League and Shias constituting the majority in Iran. Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the country's Shia theocracy has attempted to assert itself as the legitimate religious and political leadership of all Muslims, contesting a status that has generally been understood as belonging to Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, where the cities of Mecca and Medina are located. This animosity, manifested in the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, has greatly exacerbated the Shia–Sunni divide throughout the Muslim world.
The Economic and Social Council of the Arab League is an institution of the Arab League that co-ordinates its economic integration. The ESC was established as the Economic Council under the terms of the Joint Defence and Economic Co-operation Treaty (1950). and held its first meeting in 1953. In 1957, the ESC established the Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) and, in February 1997, the ESC adopted the Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Trade Among Arab Countries (1981) in pursuit of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA).
Syria–United Arab Emirates relations refer to the relationship between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Syrian Arab Republic. The UAE has an embassy in Damascus and Syria has an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate-general in Dubai. Both countries are members of the Arab League, part of the Middle East region and share close cultural ties.
The Arab League has 22 member states. It was founded in Cairo in March 1945 with seven members: the Kingdom of Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Republic, Transjordan, and North Yemen. Membership increased during the second half of the 20th century. Seven countries have observer status. The headquarters are located in Cairo, Egypt.
The Syrian peace process is the ensemble of initiatives and plans to resolve the Syrian civil war, which has been ongoing in Syria since 2011 and has spilled beyond its borders. The peace process has been moderated by the Arab League, the UN Special Envoy on Syria, Russia and Western powers. The negotiating parties to end the conflict are typically representatives of the Syrian Ba'athist government and Syrian opposition, while the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is usually excluded at the insistence of Turkey. Radical Salafist forces including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have not engaged in any contacts on peaceful resolution to the conflict.
On December 19, 2011, the Syrian government agreed to allow foreign observers from the Arab League to monitor Syria's progress in removing troops from protest areas, free political prisoners, and negotiate with dissidents. The mission was in accordance with the Arab League peace plan aimed to resolve the Syrian crisis. The monitors were dispatched and supported by the Arab League.
The Fourth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit was a conference organised by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca on 14 and 15 August 2012. The venue of the conference was Al Safa Palace.
The 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was held from 26 to 31 August 2012 in Tehran, Iran. The summit was attended by leaders of 120 countries, including 24 presidents, 3 kings, 8 prime ministers and 50 foreign ministers.
Saudi Arabia–Syria relations refer to bilateral and economic relations between Saudi Arabia and the Syrian Arab Republic. Diplomatic ties between these two countries of the Middle East have long been strained by the major events in the region. Saudi Arabia has an embassy in Damascus, and Syria has an embassy in Riyadh. Both countries are members of the Arab League and share close cultural ties.
The Vienna peace talks for Syria, as of 14 November 2015 known as the talks of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), were negotiations of foreign powers that began in Vienna, Austria in October 2015 at the level of foreign ministers, to resolve the conflict in Syria, after unsuccessful previous Syrian peace initiatives.
The 2017 Arab League Summit was held near the Dead Sea in Jordan on 29 March 2017.
The Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict refers to the ongoing struggle for regional influence between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), both of which are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is sometimes called the New Arab Cold War. Bilateral relations have been especially strained since the beginning of the Arab Spring, that left a power vacuum both states sought to fill, with Qatar being supportive of the revolutionary wave and Saudi Arabia opposing it. Both states are allies of the United States, and have avoided direct conflict with one another.
International sanctions against Syria are a series of economic sanctions and restrictions imposed by the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, mainly as a result of the repression of civilians in the Syrian civil war from 2011 onwards. The US sanctions against Syria are the most severe, as they affect third-parties as well, and amount to an embargo. U.S. secondary sanctions were limited until 2020 when the Caesar Act entered into force. The intent is to prevent the Syrian government from employing violence against its citizens and to motivate political reforms that could solve the root causes of the conflict.
The 2022 Arab League summit, officially the 31st Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level, was held at its 31st session in Algiers. This was the fourth time the city hosted this event. All Arab countries were represented at the event, with the exception of Syria, which has been suspended since 2011 due to the ongoing crisis. The summit was postponed several times before its date was confirmed on 1 November 2022. It was initially to be held in 2020, 2021 and finally March 2022. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to November to coincide with the anniversary of the outbreak of the Algerian Revolution. The summit was also the first since a number of countries normalized relations with Israel, causing a schism in the Arab position, which had remained united over what was stipulated in the Beirut 2002 initiative.
The 2005 Arab League summit, officially 17th Ordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level, was a regular summit that was held in Algiers, Algeria in March 2005.
In May 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, made multiple unannounced trips to many European countries. On 3 May, Zelenskyy travelled to Finland, where he met with the four prime ministers of the Nordic countries. On 4 May, Zelenskyy travelled to the Netherlands, meeting with the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as visiting the International Criminal Court.
Saudi Arabia 
