Hussein Aboubakr Mansour is an Egyptian-American author, analyst, and educator known for his transformation from a childhood steeped in antisemitism to becoming a prominent advocate for Israel and Jewish-Muslim reconciliation.

In the best-case scenario, Syria could be seeing a lifelong jihadist putting away his AK-47 and presiding over an orderly state that tolerates religious minorities and has good relations with Israel and the West. 

Of course, one could hardly expect Syria to become a Western-style liberal democracy, but one can reasonably hope for something better than the secular totalitarianism of Bashar al-Assad or the Islamist totalitarianism of Islamic State.