Analysis: “Where’s Syria’s Business Community?”

Randa Slim writes in Foreign Policy about the whether or not the decision by the U.S. Treasury to freeze assets of Syrian businessman Mohammad Hamsho and his business will send a “strong message” to the pro-Assad business community and potentially increase the possibilities for pressuring the Syrian regime.  According to Slim, the business community is the “key to the survival of Bashar al-Assad” therefore, sanctions against businesses will be very effective.

Slim also argues that the formation of a transitional political council made up of different groups from the Syrian opposition, including Islamists, secular, old, young, exiles, etc. will also contribute to promoting a shift in the calculations of Syrian businessman.  The council should also elect leadership, outline a clear transition plan for Syria and come up with a clear vision about how Syrians should live together and the economic system they expect to be implemented.  “The lighter the footprint the international community has in this process, the more credible the outcome will be to the majority of Syrians and especially to the traditional merchant class, a nationalistic group that is suspicious of foreign, and especially U.S., intervention. There are many skilled Syrian political scientists, lawyers, and economists to do this job well without any outside assistance,” Slim emphasizes.

Additionally, Turkish sanctions would impact the Syrian business community due to the economic ties between the two countries.  Turkish sanctions would especially impact the town of Aleppo, but most importantly, “Turkey’s economic presence is felt in various sectors of the Syrian economy,” Slim writes.

Most importantly, Slim argues that targeted sanctions should also include asset freezes and travels bans by the U.S. and the European Union on the Assad regime’s businses partners. Slim said, “such expanded sanctions might incentivize enough of them to shift their financial support away from Assad.”