ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to provide a systematic analysis of the function of the recent economic sanctions imposed on Syria. The chapter examines economic sanctions within the context of other foreign policy tools (propaganda, diplomacy and military statecraft) applied by the country’s adversaries for the period March 2011 to March 2015. The chapter identifies five phases with different objectives and a different mix of foreign policy tools. In the first phase (April–August 2011), limited economic sanctions were applied by Western countries, who signalled their willingness to escalate. Applying more comprehensive sanctions, during the second phase (August 2011–July 2012), corresponded with the change in the function of sanctions towards coercing the Syrian government to accept power-conceding diplomatic initiatives. In the later phases, military support to the rebels replaced economic sanctions as the primary means of coercion.
