Sanctioning Arabia through the Caesar Act: Economic Violence &amp; Imperial Anxieties in the “Middle East”

Sills, Charles A.; Al-Kassimi, Khaled

doi:10.31014/aior.1991.03.03.211

Cited by 3 publications

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“…These examples of disingenuous moralistic grandstanding are primary concocted for public consumption in the United States; they are not, in fact, an articulation of American interests or goals in the Syrian theatre. To be sure, a rather straightforward geopolitical calculus created the impetus for an indefinite American occupation of Syrian territory: for the government of Syria, any peace dividend or outright military victory must be denied as a means of undermining Russian and Iranian interests (Sills, 2020). As it became increasingly apparent that sanctions alone would not stop the Syrian government and its allies from winning the Syrian Civil War, a more aggressive approach was quickly adopted as a means of prolonging the conflict and undermining government efforts to rebuild the country.…”

Section: Beyond Sanctions: Occupying Syria and The Weaponization Of Wheatmentioning

confidence: 99%

The New Sykes-Picot: Imperial Geographies, Economic Violence and the Occupation of Northern and Eastern Syria

Sills

2021

Preprint

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This article quantifies the socio-economic impact of Syria’s territorial fragmentation, framing western efforts to partition Syria against the backdrop of a broader campaign designed to achieve regime change using economic violence. While some have attempted to quantify the impact of sanctions and trade restrictions on Syrian civilians, much of the extant literature fails to address the illegal occupation of Syrian territory north and east of the Euphrates River. Critically, the direct seizure of geographic space through the occupation of Syrian territory facilitates economic violence far more effectively than sanctions alone. In western capitals, the tacit embrace of such methods indicates a re-discovery of old-line traditional territorial imperialism and the rhetorical devices needed to promote it: advocating the illegal seizure of Syrian territory demands a reinvigorated orientalist public discourse designed to promote western saviorism and the moral necessity of western interventionism. Using a hybridized research methodology incorporating qualitative and quantitative analysis, this study appraises the tangible consequences of Syria’s territorial fragmentation as experienced by Syrians while simultaneously appraising the role of orientalist, liberal-interventionist discourse in the promotion of empire.

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Section: Beyond Sanctions: Occupying Syria and The Weaponization Of Wheatmentioning

confidence: 99%

The New Sykes-Picot: Imperial Geographies, Economic Violence and the Occupation of Northern and Eastern Syria

Sills

2021

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The Syrian Economy and Sanctions: Situational Adaptation

Lazovskii

2024

WEIR

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War, loss of control over part of the territory, and economic sanctions have had a devastating effect on Syria’s economy. However, the country has managed to survive. This has been possible in part due to the measures of the Syrian government, private business, and the population to resist and adapt to economic sanctions. The adaptation strategy had not been planned, and the measures the state, private business, and the population have taken were not coordinated, unlike, for example, in Iran’s case, where strategies are developed and then announced based on future economic risks. Because of this, this strategy of counteraction and adaptation to economic sanctions may be termed as adaptive. The most serious economic sanctions on the Syrian economy have been imposed by the US, the EU, and the League of Arab States. They have restricted Syrian access to goods, technology, financial instruments and products, investments, and even in some cases humanitarian aid from the countries that initiated the sanctions. It is a very difficult task to identify the real Syrian losses caused by the economic sanctions, but it can be accurately asserted, based on the analysis in this article, that they do not allow the country to move forward to the recovery phase. State measures of adaptation to economic sanctions were supposed to become a buffer that would allow the national economy not only to survive, but also to move from stagnation to economic growth. However, it has to be stated that the situational strategy of adaptation to economic sanctions allowed the national economy to remain in a viable state, however, it does not allow it to move from recession to growth.

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The Caesar Law for The Protection of Civilians in Syria: Objectives and Ramifications

Madouni

Derradji²

2020

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This research aims to demonstrate Caesar's law to protect civilians in Syria and its effect on the social and economic circumstances of millions of Syrians stuck in their country because of the state of the siege imposed by the law's sanctions. The question tries to focus on how the law can achieve its human aims under the negative economic consequences it has on civilians, relying on the new political economy approach. It tried to interpret the non-economic activity of politicians under the Economy cover. Accordingly, The United States continues to tighten its hold on the Syrian system to exercise pressure on Syria, and to make political compromises and start significant political reforms immediately. Still, the direct targeting of Syrian economic structures through the law-imposed blockade has isolated the Syrian regime and cut off all official economic ties externally. It is encouraging the escalation of dealings with informal mediators, which has led to a sharp collapse in the Syrian Lira and a significant increase in consumer prices, which has been reflected negatively on the social reality in the light of the marked increase in poverty rates.

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Sanctioning Arabia through the Caesar Act: Economic Violence & Imperial Anxieties in the “Middle East”

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

The New Sykes-Picot: Imperial Geographies, Economic Violence and the Occupation of Northern and Eastern Syria

The New Sykes-Picot: Imperial Geographies, Economic Violence and the Occupation of Northern and Eastern Syria

The Syrian Economy and Sanctions: Situational Adaptation

The Caesar Law for The Protection of Civilians in Syria: Objectives and Ramifications

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