| Top of the Agenda |
| U.S. Imposes New Sanctions on Syria |
| The Donald J. Trump administration imposed new sanctions on the Syrian government (WaPo), including President Bashar al-Assad and his family.
The sanctions—designed to prevent private and foreign investment, including in hotels and malls—are the first implementation of the Caesar Act passed by Congress last year. Syria is already subject to a slew of U.S. and European Union sanctions, but the new ones are broader (Reuters): they apply to anyone who does business with the Syrian government, cover more sectors, and target Iran and Russia, which both back Assad. Tehran rejected the U.S. sanctions (Reuters) and said it would strengthen its ties with Damascus. |
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| Analysis |
| “If you are engaging in these sectors, you will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, which is the most powerful in the world. For you as a company, you choose between that and investing in a broken country,” Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, tells Reuters.
“Leveraging American diplomatic, economic, and military capabilities, which dwarf those of every other actor in Syria, could change the trajectory of the conflict, help contain the humanitarian crisis, and lay important groundwork for an eventual political transition. With so much still at stake, even limited U.S. involvement could make a difference,” Jennifer Cafarella writes in Foreign Affairs.
CFR looks at Syria’s descent into horror. |
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