Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa was named among Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential people of 2025. Robert Ford, who was the United States Ambassador to Syria from 2011-2014, wrote al-Sharaa’s profile for the magazine. 

Al-Sharaa and his rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled the ruthless Assad regime back in December in a surprise offensive beginning in Aleppo. Ford said that al-Sharaa had to become a “political leader as well as a military force.”

Time described al-Sharaa as “soft-spoken” and “religiously conservative.” They also said that he frequently held other Syrian rebel groups at gunpoints in order to form pacts with them. Ford posed questions regarding al-Sharaa’s true character, and whether or not his moderacy is only a ruse for political gain.

The list also includes U.S. President Donald Trump and Bangladeshi Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.