US policy shift on Syria: From maximum sanctions to conditional lifting – why the change?
The US Senate yesterday voted 77-20 to repeal the Caesar Act, which was approved in December 2019 as part of an annual defense package. The Senate voted 77-20 to repeal the legislation, which is expected to be signed by Trump.
“This decision, which has broad bipartisan support, is a decisive step toward giving the Syrian people a real chance to rebuild after decades of unimaginable suffering,” said Sen. Jane Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Damascus, on the other hand, welcomed the move as a milestone. Syrian Foreign Minister Asad al-Shaibani said: “We appreciate and thank the US Senate for its support for the Syrian people and its vote to repeal the Caesar Act.”
What was the Caesar Act?
The name of the US Senate bill, the Caesar Act, comes from a retired Syrian army officer. The US sanctions law against the then Syrian government, known as the “Syria Civilian Protection Act” or “Caesar Act”, took effect on June 17, 2020; the law aimed to increase economic and political pressure on the government of Bashar al-Assad, targeting key sectors of the Syrian economy and its domestic and foreign supporters.
The law, which was passed by the US Congress and signed by US President Donald Trump on December 20, 2019, imposed sanctions on natural and legal persons, companies, and regional and international institutions that provided financial, economic, or military support to the then Syrian government.
Stages of implementation of the Caesar Act
The implementation of the Caesar Act took place in several stages, and the list of sanctions was updated periodically. The first stage of this law began on June 17, 2020, during which the US sanctioned 39 individuals and entities associated with the Syrian government. These sanctions included Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma al-Assad, Maher al-Assad, military commanders, and several businessmen and figures close to the Syrian government.
The second phase of the law’s implementation also targeted foreign supporters of the Syrian government, including some non-Syrian military groups, companies, and individuals, as well as institutions and figures from neighboring countries that collaborated with Damascus.
The real roots of the Caesar Act
Although the United States justified the adoption of the Caesar Act under the pretext of “supporting human rights,” an examination of the timing and content of the law shows that its main motivation was the failure of the military-security project of the West and its allies in Syria.
In fact, after the Syrian army, with the support of the resistance axis, was able to liberate most of the country’s territory from the occupation of Takfiri terrorist groups, Washington openly resorted to economic warfare.
From the perspective of regional analysts, the Caesar Act at that time actually replaced direct war; a tool to avenge Damascus’ field victories and try to turn the unrest away from livelihoods and the economy. At the same time, the law was designed to strengthen the security of the Zionist regime and weaken Syria’s geopolitical position as a connecting link for the resistance axis.
Sanctions Mechanism: Maximum Pressure on the People
The Caesar Act subjected not only Syrian government institutions, but also any person, company, or country that has economic, financial, or technical cooperation with Damascus to secondary sanctions. As a result, the law effectively halted the reconstruction of Syria’s devastated infrastructure, reduced foreign investment to near zero, paralyzed Syria’s foreign trade and banking system, and even severely disrupted the import of medicine and medical equipment.
In the first phase of the law’s implementation, the U.S. Treasury and State Departments sanctioned 39 Syrian individuals and entities, a list that included the Syrian president, members of his family, military commanders, businessmen, and even groups from the Resistance Axis.