2025-04-08
5 分钟The Economist Hi there, this is Jason Palmer,
co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs show.
This is Editor's Picks,
where we take an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist and get someone with better diction than mine to read it aloud.
Have a listen.
Syrians could be forgiven for disillusionment.
Four months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December,
following five decades of brutal dictatorship by his family,
Syria's economy lies in ruins and its politics is volatile.
Just last month, hundreds, perhaps more, died in sectarian violence.
Yet a new poll conducted for The Economist in the days before and after the violence in March suggests that Syrians remain surprisingly upbeat.
That presents an opportunity both for Ahmad al-Sharah,
the rebel who is now the interim president,
and for Western countries keen to help Syria thrive.
They must not waste it.
The results of our survey,
one of the very few comprehensive public polls to be conducted in the country,
paint a remarkably positive picture.
A striking 70% of Syrians from across the country and across ethnic and religious groups say they are optimistic about the future.
Some 80% feel freer than they did under Mr. Assad.