The rest of the world may be preoccupied with the US election, but in the government-controlled coastal areas of Syria, most people are waiting impatiently to see an end to the war raging just a few kilometers away. It doesn’t make a huge difference to Syrians here if there’s a new administration in the White House, Democrat or Republican.

That was the overall impression here, even before Donald Trump was in the picture. US politics don’t concern Syrians much, even if many here believe Trump would align himself with the regime of Bashar al-Assad to strike at Islamic terror groups.

But given the desire of many for a political settlement to the war, and taking into consideration what Trump said during his speech Monday — about the possibility of the US working with Russia to strike at ISIS in Syria — the vast majority of Syrians will seriously be counting on Trump.