For almost three years, Syria has been in the diplomatic doghouse, shunned by the United States, disrespected by France, bombed by Israel and even scolded by its fellow Arab governments for cozying up to Iran.

But now, in the post-Annapolis let’s-make-peace-in-the-Middle-East world, the kitchen door may have cracked slightly open to allow Syria back in the house.

Bush administration officials, who usually have not been able to mention the word “Syria” without immediately following it up with “state sponsor of terrorism”, have started to sound conciliatory. Israel says it is willing to consider peace talks with Syria over the Golan Heights. And Arab neighbours went to the mat last week to persuade the United States to do everything it could to get Syria to attend the Annapolis peace conference.

What has changed?

“The event in Annapolis was designed to send one unmistakable message: that Arab-Israeli peace is open for business,” said Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. “The pull here is the allure of the second track.”

The Sunni Arab states want to woo Syria, with its Sunni Muslim majority, from its alliance with largely Shiite Iran. For the Israelis, one potential benefit would be to play the Palestinians off against the Syrians while trying to negotiate peace with both.

And the United States? “Look, a handful in the Arab League were saying they could not attend the conference unless Syria was put on the agenda,” a senior Bush administration official said. “So we put Syria on the agenda. What did it cost us? Nothing.”

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