In June 2020, the United States government implemented the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act — a.k.a. Caesar Act — which imposes sweeping sanctions on Syria. These sanctions, which are the harshest that Washington has ever imposed on the Assad regime, target entities or individuals which are involved in any activities within sectors of the Syrian economy that the government dominates, including banking, military, gas, oil, construction, and engineering. To date, the main effect of the Caesar Act has been to deter foreign investors from contributing to Iranian and Russian reconstruction plans for Syria. The Caesar Act does not directly target any members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC. However, the ripple effect of these U.S. sanctions could undermine the growing interest of the United Arab Emirates on the Syria issue.
