Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act

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...

Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: May

The Ruthless Realpolitik of the United Arab Emirates

Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed has cozied up to Bashar al-Assad, and relations with the U.S. are at an all-time low.

Assad Visits the UAE, Showing Need for Tougher Enforcement of U.S. Sanctions

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad visited the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the first time another Arab government has welcomed Assad since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011. The State Department...

Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: March

Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: February

Biden Administration Backs Levant Energy Deal That Violates Bipartisan Caesar Sanctions

The Lebanese, Jordanian, and Syrian governments signed a deal last week to export surplus Jordanian electricity to Lebanon by routing it through Syria, potentially violating U.S. sanctions on the regime...

Congress Delivers Bipartisan Warning to Biden on Syria Policy

The chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate committees on foreign relations sent a letter last week to President Joe Biden warning him that “[t]acit approval of formal diplomatic engagement...