In this policy brief at @BrookingsFP, @SHeydemann and I expose Assad's emerging network of business fronts. Assad no longer wants complex and uncertain relations with cronies. He wants to be himself Syria's leading businessperson, and it's working.

Bilateral meetings with Western policymakers suggest a reluctance to ease Syria's banking sanctions over AML/CFT concerns. Paradoxically, that’s exactly why they should be lifted. Hawala thrives while benign actors are squeezed out. Want control? Give a legal alternative. #Syria #Sanctions

RT @BenjaminFeve: The Syrian Government Re-Negotiated Its Contract With French Shipping Giant CMA-CGM! At a recent meeting between the Gen…

RT @KShaar_Advisory: 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 Read our latest in Syria in Figures:

Many public sector employees in formerly regime-held Syria complained in al-Nabek about feeling cast aside. "Whenever we offer to help newly appointed and often uninformed employees, we're told there's no need; that our salaries will continue to be paid, but the new leadership will do things differently; will do them the modern way."

@sameersaboungi With Wise, I'm using VPN but it still doesn't work.

RT @TimepDC: 🔔 NEW EVENT Next Tuesday, 1/28: Join TIMEP for “What Comes Next? Unpacking the Post-Assad Transition in Syria,” a virtual even…

Engagement is key to disentangling the signal from the noise in today's uncertain environment in Syria.

And this one is for my wife, @habibi_hanna. Yo, @khamenei_ir, what's up?

RT @KShaar_Advisory: 🛢️ In 2010, Syria’s oil sector was the backbone of its economy, contributing 18% to GDP. A decade of conflict and sa…

I'll engage and help the caretaker government in Damascus for the country's sake.

@ahmad_syrian0 نحنا دائمًا جاهزين للتعاون وإبداء الرأي أخ أحمد.

RT @KShaar_Advisory: 🛢️ Syria's oil sector, once a cornerstone of the economy, is now in ruins. The SDF controls 86% of production, sanctio…

We've long advocated for sanctions reform in Syria, and we're finally at a point where such a meaningful conversation can be had. Check out my and @BenjaminFeve's assessment of GL24: the good, the bad, and what needs to happen next.

@blugrey19 Don't trivialize the holocaust. Shush!

RT @AymanDas1: Key Statements by the Minister of #Economy and Foreign Trade in the #Syrian_Caretaker Government, Basel Abdul Hanan, During…