Delaney Simon

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de septiembre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

Free Syrian Army soldier walking among rubble in Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War. (Photo: Voice of America/Guest2625/Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Free_Syrian_Army_soldier_walking_among_rubble_in_Aleppo.jpg, Public Domain)

MundoOriente Próximo,

The unexpected fall of President Bashar al-Assad and with it the end of the Assad dynasty prompted jubilation from many long-suffering Syrian people, but they face sobering challenges as they try to rebuild their society. A central problem remains the enormous web of overlapping sanctions that countries opposed to the regime and its abuses imposed during the civil war.

The United States has been the primary architect of many of these sanctions. Over the years, the United States and its allies have shown few signs of readiness to make lasting changes to their sanctions regimes, but on Jan. 6, the United States took a promising step by easing some restrictions.…  Seguir leyendo »

The flag adopted by Syria's new rulers, Umayyad Square, Damascus, December 2024 Ammar Awad / Reuters

MundoOriente Próximo,

Syria’s new leaders have few models to follow in their quest to win international recognition. No guidebooks exist on how to run a government for groups operating under terrorist designations—and there is no clear set of rules for foreign governments on how to bring a former al Qaeda affiliate in from the cold. But Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that dislodged Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in early December, and outside governments alike can learn from a cautionary precedent: the Taliban’s 2021 return to power in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban seized Kabul, Afghanistan staggered under the weight of sanctions and other kinds of economic and diplomatic isolation.…  Seguir leyendo »

Taliban supporters, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 2022. Ali Khara / TPX images of the day / Reuters

MundoOriente Próximo

One year ago, in the aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul, Western policy was pushing Afghanistan to the brink of collapse. Humanitarian groups warned that U.S. sanctions and other restrictions were choking the Afghan economy and could lead to famine, large-scale migration, and regional instability. In a series of quick decisions that may have saved millions of lives, the United States and like-minded countries changed course, taking action to mitigate the catastrophe they had left behind in Afghanistan. The United States granted the most sweeping exemptions in the history of U.S. sanctions and, with Western allies, sent planeloads of humanitarian aid to the country.…  Seguir leyendo »

As President Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine continues, pressure is mounting to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. | Dmitry Serebryakov/AP Photo

MundoAméricaEuropaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, , ,

As President Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine continues, pressure is mounting to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism — a move that would apply new sanctions to Moscow and put it on a short list of countries the U.S. treats as pariahs. But while Russia’s atrocious and aggressive conduct in Ukraine deserves both condemnation and a strong response, a state sponsor designation is the wrong tool at the wrong moment.

President Joe Biden has resisted taking this step. Yet Congress, with direction from senior leadership, including  Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is pushing ahead, with bills in  both the House and the  Senate that would designate Russia legislatively.…  Seguir leyendo »