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One year ago, after a campaign that toppled Bashar al-Assad's repressive dictatorship, Ahmed al-Sharaa assumed the Syrian presidency.
Since then, the former rebel commander has worked to establish his credentials as a statesman, winning the support of regional powers like Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar—as well as recognition from the White House. Yet al-Sharaa and his transitional government have not been immune from criticism, particularly over their handling of domestic affairs.
Samer Abboud, PhD, director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at Villanova University, is an expert on modern Syria and the wider Middle East. A year into al-Sharaa's presidency, he believes the provisional government has made incredible strides in some areas, like international diplomacy, while struggling to find its footing in others.
"There's no doubt that Syria's external image is becoming more positive. We see this kind of charm offensive, with President al-Sharaa taking to the world stage," says Dr. Abboud. "Also, most of the regional actors are very fond of al-Sharaa and were very happy for the Assad regime to have fallen. So, there's this external presentation of a transition government that is legitimate and has support, and I think that's largely true.
"The problem in Syria right now, of course, is what's happening internally. To begin, across the country, you have completely collapsed infrastructure—limited electricity, restricted access to running water and unreliable internet."
Much has been made of economic sanctions' role in contributing to these internal issues, with Western governments having historically limited the amount of aid and investment that could enter Syria. However, while Dr. Abboud sees these measures' elimination as crucial to the nation's progress, he also contends that ending restrictions alone is not enough to ensure the country's long-term stability and prosperity. Of particular concern, according to the professor, is the al-Sharaa administration's persistent claim "that 'free markets' could and would be a cure-all."
As he explains, "The problem is that there's literally no evidence to demonstrate that private enterprise is interested in social betterment in reconstruction cases. You can't rebuild a state and a society on the profit logic. When you look at Lebanon, after all the wars Lebanon endured, what did free markets—without a strong public sector—do for that country? Roughly 80 percent of Lebanese people live in poverty."
Beyond the troubles surrounding economic growth and infrastructural development, there also exist a series of fractures along ethnic and ideological lines. Wide swaths of Syria are currently controlled by militias with agendas at odds with that of the provisional government, and despite making inroads with one significant bloc of dissent (the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces), tensions are exceedingly high. Furthermore, a number of groups remain suspicious of the president and his intentions due to his past affiliation with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni Islamist group that traces its roots to al-Qaeda.
Navigating this delicate situation with poise and precision is something that al-Sharaa needs to master, contends Dr. Abboud. And, over the course of the past several months, it seems Syria's new leader has started to refine the skill.
"To illustrate, last year, at least 25 people were killed in a bombing at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus, and President al-Sharaa did not go to the site. In addressing the incident, he also didn't use the language of martyrdom, which is what you would typically do for any person—Christian or Muslim—who died in this context," says Dr. Abboud. "In June, however, they arrested the culprits, and he went and met the patriarch and went inside the church, and they publicized it.
"The first time, he was too worried about these internal influences—of being perceived by his base as having moderated his views. Right now, he very much finds himself caught in a balancing act, working to temper the forces that are compelling him to possibly do something that could worsen an unstable situation. But I do think that the two contrasts [represented in the Mar Elias Church episode] suggest that the president is learning and gradually figuring out how to do politics a bit differently."
In this vein, Dr. Abboud feels the next phase in al-Sharaa's evolution should center on reckoning with the history of the country's late civil war and encouraging a dialogue between those who supported the Assad regime and those who sought to overthrow it. In the professor's estimation, this step is essential to achieving a lasting peace in Syria.
"Currently, there are some memory projects and knowledge projects that are happening, but those are not led or facilitated by the state. And that's troublesome, given what we've seen in other conflict contexts," he says. "In Lebanon, for instance, the state has amnesia. The civil war is not in the textbooks, officials don't talk about it, and it's not commemorated nationally. But then, in many ways, the narrative of how it happened—who are the victims, who are the perpetrators—can totally shape people's lives."
Still, while much economic, social and humanitarian work remains to be done, Syria today finds itself in a position unlike any it's occupied in decades' time: one marked by possibility.
"In general, I envision an extended period of grace for the government and an extended period of hope," concludes Dr. Abboud. "Syria did not have a future under the Assad regime. Or it had a future, but one characterized by generations of isolation. Today, people, both inside and outside Syria, have an entirely different outlook."
As Disney’s “Zootopia 2” barrels toward becoming the highest-grossing animated Disney movie of all-time, the box office isn’t the only place fans of the franchise are apparently flocking.
Recently, CNN reported that “Zootopia 2” fans in China—where the wildly popular movie has already been crowned it’s highest-grossing foreign animated film ever—have expressed increased interest in owning Indonesian pit vipers, a striking blue and highly venomous snake portrayed as an anthropomorphic protagonist named Gary De’Snake in the film. The outlet spoke to individuals who purchased the animal after seeing “Zootopia 2” and noted surges in searches and prices among exotic pet retailers.
The reported phenomenon prompts the question: can blockbuster movies really be drivers of the exotic pet trade?
“I think they can,” said Ryan Almeida, PhD, an assistant teaching professor of Geography and the Environment at Villanova University who studies the exotic pet trade. “There have been a lot of anecdotal reports of movies and TV shows influencing the pet trade, but the peer-reviewed evidence isn’t there.”
Causation or Correlation? Reasons for Pet Demand are Tricky to Single Out While the increased interest in the pit viper may be the latest pet trend influenced by the entertainment industry, it is certainly not the first, says Dr. Almeida, who has recently been conducting research at wildlife expos in an effort to understand more of the intricacies of various pet-related trends.
In the 1980-90s, red-eared slider turtles became massively popular pets, and it just so happened to coincide with a popular new show based off the animal.
“The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze, especially in the United Kingdom, probably helped drive demand for these turtles as pets,” Dr. Almeida said. “Turtle exports from the United States exploded in popularity during this time, there just is a not a peer-reviewed study demonstrating it was definitely caused by the show.”
In the 2000’s, Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” and its sequel, “Finding Dory,” reportedly bolstered purchases of clownfish and blue tangs—the fish for whom those characters were modeled. Interest in owning owls as pets was also said to have spiked among Harry Potter fans in certain parts of the world amid the height of the joint movie/book popularity.
Though much of the evidence of these trends is anecdotal, anecdotal doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t happen. For instance, it’s difficult to completely discredit an exotic pet retailer who reported a 500% sales increase of an animal featured in a recent, very popular movie.
But it’s also difficult to prove the causation, not to mention the scale. Dr. Almeida, who is interested in the qualities that make exotic pets desirous to consumers, says that even if sales of an animal from a movie did increase, the reasons are likely far more nuanced than just their appearance on screen.
“Rarity is one important factor. We have good evidence that that certain [consumers] care a lot about rarity, that prices rise as animals become rarer and that retailers sell more animals if they are rare.”
Another is morphology, or the physical structure of the animal.
“Animals with unique morphology or distinctive colorations and patterns are more susceptible for these spikes in demand,” he said. “If Gary De’Snake was a brown, common garter snake and not a striking blue colored viper, I doubt we would see this attention.
“I suspect that that's partially why this snake species, Trimeresurus insularis, was chosen for this movie, and why the fish representing Nemo and Dory are the ones they are, and not one of the millions of more boring looking fish species out there.”
Even the on-screen portrayal, he suspects, makes a difference.
“If the characters are protagonists, that could potentially either consciously or subconsciously, lead to more positive associations with the pet, especially for something like a pit viper, which probably has sort of a negative connotation to go with it in the first place. Also, the way these animals are anthropomorphized likely matters to some degree to people who report buying these animals because of the movie.”
Case in point, one purchaser of the highly venomous viper told CNN that the movie helped give “reptile pets a better image,” saying of Gary De’Snake “I love his enthusiastic attitude and his sense of responsibility,” which would not be qualities associated with or displayed by the actual living species.
“Attention to all of this falls in line with the same sort of things we are already know are drivers of demand in the pet trade,” Dr. Almeida said.
Blockbuster Movies Probably Don’t Make Blockbuster Pet Trends Yet, while Dr. Almeida cedes that there is likely some degree of real demand for exotic pets based on movies (as evidenced by the self-reporting of people doing so for that reason), he cautions that there is very little to suggest these types of trends typically occur on large scales, especially those large enough to make any ecological impacts.
He referenced a 2019 paper published by researchers at the University of Oxford, which looked at the purported increase of clownfish and blue tang sales after “Finding Nemo” and “Finding Dory.”
“They found that there was an increase in the amount of people searching for the animal online, but not any evidence that retailers were importing more blue tangs, consumers were buying more blue tangs, or even that people were going to an aquarium to see them.”
The findings, per the University of Oxford, suggested “that the impact of movies is limited when it comes to large scale buying of animals.” The authors also noted the role of viral media articles in suggesting this plausible causation was a hard-and-true phenomenon.
Similarly, a 2017 study concluded that, contrary to popular belief, the Harry Potter series was unlikely to have increased demand for pet owls in the United Kingdom.
Even if the demand was there at those larger scales, Dr. Almeida says meeting that demand could be a challenge, depending on the species.
“You’d potentially have to poach them in large numbers from the wild, and that's challenging in and of itself. Or they would have to be captive bred, which for some animals is relatively easy but others not so much.”
Not to mention the other roadblocks to mass exotic pet ownership.
“Some of them may be tough to obtain or even illegal to own in the first place. Also, many of the consumers of films like ‘Zootopia 2’ who might feel a strong emotional pull to an animal are children, and children aren’t the ones going out and buying pets. And, even if something like this did become a large-scale trend, trends are fleeting. The long-term impact, ecologically, would be hard to predict.”
But make no mistake. Pet trends certainly do happen on large scales, and whether they are caused by movies in part or not at all, they can have dire ecological consequences. Look at the case of the red eared slider.
“Regardless of any possible influence from the show, these turtles are relatively easy to captive breed, so therefore relatively easy to acquire,” Dr. Almeida said. “But they are tough pets. They live a really long time and are kind of hard to care for, and that leads to people releasing them into the wild. They are now among the most invasive reptile species on the planet.”
So much so, that the UK banned their sale in 1996.
“It ties back to the complications of assessing certain aspects of the wildlife trade. There are so many factors, how do we get the entire picture? It’s a wicked problem.”
Whether that problem includes movies with venomous, anthropomorphic snake protagonists appears unlikely, outside of a few highlighted cases.
“It certainly wouldn’t be supported by much hard evidence… yet,” Dr. Almeida said. “But this is very much an under-researched phenomenon. I know I’ll keep my eye out for blue insularis next time I attend a pet expo.”
In September, the Kraft Heinz Company revealed its intention to split into two smaller entities—one focused on in-demand products, like shelf-stable meals, spreads and sauces, and the other on slower-growth businesses, such as the Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables brands.
The move is among the latest in a series of breakups and spinoffs announced by major "Big Food" conglomerates, including Kellogg's, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. and Unilever, and experts speculate more divvying and downsizing are bound to follow.
Beth Vallen, PhD, a professor in the Villanova School of Business who studies consumer behavior and food marketing, contends these demergers and restructurings are the direct result of a recent yet significant shift in shoppers' spending habits.
"It is certainly a possibility that we are moving away from 'Big Food,'" says Dr. Vallen. "The companies are likely to be more agile as smaller entities, and the more targeted businesses will allow them to focus on their different market segments as we face increasingly complex consumer and macro trends in the food industry."
Among the more noteworthy factors the professor cites are changes in how shoppers evaluate products and how often they make purchases, particularly amid rising costs, economic pressures and increased competition in the marketplace. When it comes to groceries, a LendingTree survey from earlier this year found that nearly nine in 10 Americans are reassessing what items they cart to the checkout lane.
"Inflation and uncertainty have driven consumers to look for more value when they shop," says Dr. Vallen. "This might result in behaviors like switching to lower-cost alternatives, and along these lines, consumers are seeking out retailers with high-quality store brand offerings that might replace their typical, branded items.
"Consumers are also shopping less frequently. This could be due to reliance on technology, like online grocery purchases, which requires more planning, as well as a desire to make groceries stretch between purchases to save money."
Another development affecting the industry is a broader drive across the population toward health-conscious options and low-calorie meals, heightened to a degree by the rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. A recent KFF Health Tracking Poll evidences that these medications, which have been shown to promote weight loss, are taken by roughly one in eight American adults; and households with users are expected to account for more than a third of food and beverage sales by 2030.
According to Rebecca Shenkman, MPH, RDN, LDN, the director of the MacDonald Center for Nutrition Education and Research at Villanova's M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the impact of these drugs' usage on consumers' eating habits should not be underestimated.
"GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce appetite and food intake through multiple mechanisms, and evidence suggests both a reduction in snacking frequency and a shift toward healthier choices among users," shares Shenkman. "They report fewer cravings for sweet, salty and fatty snacks, particularly during the first 12 to 24 weeks of treatment. In addition, consumer surveys and clinical trials indicate increased intake of fruits, vegetables and water, and decreased consumption of processed foods and sugary beverages.
"With millions of users and average daily reductions of 700 to 900 calories, demand for calorie-dense snacks could decline significantly."
Among the brands and businesses at greatest risk, in Dr. Vallen and Shenkman's respective estimations, are "packaged and processed foods" as well as "sugary beverages and high-fat treats." In turn, with shoppers increasingly moving away from these "unhealthy" options and expressing an openness to dispensing with long-term staples, companies in the sector will need to emphasize adaptability in the coming years, making a conscious effort to understand customers' distinct preferences and needs.
"Altogether, there are numerous trends that are seemingly pulling consumers in different directions—between health, taste, value and convenience," concludes Dr. Vallen. "Looking ahead, it will be important for firms to understand how these trends impact different consumers—and in different categories. Health likely means something different to Gen X and Gen Z and may vary further based on whether we are talking about a family dinner or a late-night treat. Taking efforts to understand consumer motivations will be crucial for companies to appropriately respond to current trends."
