These days the Middle East is where diplomacy goes to die, with the conflict in Iraq, Iran’s unchecked nuclear weapons ambitions, civil war among the Palestinians and growing threats from terrorist groups. Yet the time may be ripe for the Bush administration to reprise its greatest diplomatic success and test whether Syria, like Libya before it, can be persuaded to change its behaviour and play a more constructive role.

At first glance, Syria appears an unlikely candidate for a diplomatic breakthrough. President Bashar Assad brutally stifles all domestic dissent. Damascus continues to undermine democracy in Lebanon and has been implicated in the 2005 car-bombing of Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri. Syria opposes the Middle East peace process. It harbours Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who refuses to recognise Israel’s right to exist. It provides weapons to Hizbollah and has weapons of mass destruction programmes (which may have been the target of the recent Israeli air strike inside Syria) and supports other radical groups. Damascus has become close to Iran, working together to destabilise the region.