The regime is running record budget deficits, and it is suddenly fanatical about ending U.S. sanctions (which, Damascus has only just admitted for the first time, are truly damaging). … Which means President Bashar al-Assad may finally be ready to play ball. …
[I]n the past five years, oil production … has plunged 30 percent, making Syria a net importer and causing Damascus to run record budget deficits upward of 10 percent of GDP. … Then a massive three-year drought devastated Syrian agriculture. … Meanwhile, free-trade agreements between Syria and Turkey undermined Syria’s heavily protected market, slamming Syria’s manufacturing sector. … Exacerbating these pressures, children born during a baby boom in the 1980s and early 1990s are finally entering the labor market, meaning that the Assad regime has to create more jobs than ever. … Damascus has never needed a bailout as badly as it does now. …
That’s why Washington is looking for creative ways to turn sticks (sanctions) into carrots (cash). … It’s true that we’ve been down this road before, which is why there are plenty of doubters in Washington. … This time, though, it’s different. Access the full article>>
