Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act

New Syria sanctions relief (and risks) explained

Firms relying on the recent wave of lifted sanctions and exceptive relief will face significant hurdles in verifying that transactions do not benefit excluded actors

What’s next for Syria? Assad, Jihadist terrorist groups, and chemical weapons

Jihadi Rebel Surge Disrupts White House Plans for Syria

The Syrian civil war has cost half a million lives while forcing millions to seek refuge abroad, yet the Biden administration has continually sought to ease American pressure on the regime in Damascus...

Senate Moves to Extend and Toughen Caesar Act Sanctions on Syrian Regime

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), proposed a late amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act on September 11 that includes a four-year extension of...

Hezbollah seeks to use Syrian refugees to create crisis with Europe

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on May 13 that Lebanon should open its maritime borders so that Syrians who live in Lebanon can board boats heading to Europe.

Bashar Al Assad Must Pay

Arab leaders have welcomed Syria back into the diplomatic fold, but the U.S. Congress remains committed to holding the regime of Bashar al Assad accountable for a decade of atrocities.  In...

Bashar al-Assad is back

And the Arab League’s got him

Unrepentant, Unreformed Syrian Regime Returns to Arab League

Twelve years after it suspended Syria for the violent suppression and torture of peaceful protesters, the League of Arab States welcomed Syria back to the fold on May 7, just weeks...

Biden is quietly encouraging Assad’s rehabilitation. He should reverse course.

In the first weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency, Secretary of State Antony Blinken committed to “putting human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy.” Before taking office, Blinken...

Assad Will Return to Arab League Summit, Courtesy of Saudi Invite

Saudi Arabia, which will host the annual Arab League summit next month, plans to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend the gathering in Riyadh. The pending invitation marks a major reversal in Saudi policy and a milestone for Assad as he seeks diplomatic rehabilitation despite his ongoing atrocities. According to Reuters, which first reported the news, Prince Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, will travel to Damascus in the coming weeks to personally deliver the invitation.

Examining U.S. Sanctions Policy, Implementation, and Enforcement

Lawmakers, Former Top Officials Offer Bipartisan Rebuke of Biden’s Syria Policy

Earlier today, an open letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the administration’s passive response to Arab governments’ accelerating normalization...

FDD’s Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: The Year in Review

Meet Xi and Putin’s Hired Gun Inside the UN

If your dictatorship is facing U.S. or EU sanctions, you can count on Alena Douhan to announce that Western governments are the real human rights violators.

America’s Regional Integration Scheme Benefits Iran

The Obama-Biden doctrine means that our Mideast allies don’t have to like the Iran deal. They just have to pay for it.

Algeria Leads Campaign to Rehabilitate Assad Regime

While visiting Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra called on Monday for Syria’s return to the Arab League. Lamamra’s trip to Damascus is...

U.S.-Backed Gas Deal Will Benefit Assad Regime

At a ceremony in Beirut, the governments of Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt signed a deal on Tuesday that would bring 650 million cubic meters of Egyptian gas per year to Lebanon via Syria. The Biden administration...

Across Party Lines, Senators Tell Biden to Get Tough on Assad

At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, senators from across the political spectrum pressed the Biden administration to isolate Syria’s criminal regime and fully enforce the...

The White House Is Bending the Law on Syria Sanctions

State Department Report Glosses Over Assad’s Narco-Trafficking Wealth

In a congressionally mandated report issued last week, the State Department made a single passing reference to drug trafficking as a source of wealth for the family of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The...