Added US sanctions on Syria may prove self-defeating

Significance

This comes as the US Congress is finalising a bill, the Caesar Act, that would substantially increase the sanctions pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. As Washington’s military footprint in the Syrian theatre shrinks, it is reprioritising the use of economic tools.

Impacts

• With no exposure to the United States, Iranian and Russian companies doing business with Syria will not be significantly affected.
• The main losers could be US partners, who had hoped that a Syrian recovery would aid their own economies and regional integration.
• Black market activity may proliferate in the Levant as criminal groups help establish alternative mechanisms to supply goods and services.
• Sanctions will make life more difficult for the average Syrian, restricting economic growth and reconstruction.