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The Sanctions Age
The Sanctions Age is a podcast that explores how sanctions are changing the world.
Twenty years ago, the U.S. Department of Treasury had imposed sanctions on fewer than 1,000 companies and individuals. Today, more than 10,000 entities have been targeted.
Leaders around the world are imposing sanctions in response to wars, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, human rights violations, and technological competition. As a result, a growing list of countries are targeted by sanctions, export controls, and investment restrictions, including China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Syria.
The Sanctions Age invites the people who understand sanctions best—economists, historians, lawyers, policymakers, and journalists—to explain their use and significance. Understanding sanctions is the key to understanding politics and economics today.
We are living in The Sanctions Age.
The Sanctions Age
Syria's Complicated Path to Economic Recovery
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Vittorio Maresca di Serracapriola on sanctions relief in Syria.
It has been over a year since Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad fled to Moscow and a new government took power in Damascus. Assad’s ouster triggered one of the most rapid reversals of a sanctions regime in recent history. The European Union and the United States essentially raced to be the first to lift sanctions on Syria and most restrictions on engagement with the Syrian economy were removed by December 2025.
Encouragingly, the Syrian economy is outperforming expectations. But the path to economic recovery and reintegration into the global economy has been far from smooth. Today’s guest today works directly on issues of sanctions relief, banking reform, and economic recovery in Syria.
Vittorio Maresca di Serracapriola is an economic analyst based in Beirut. He works at Karam Shaar Advisory, where he advises companies and institutions trying to re-engage with Syria. He is also a member of the Bologna Initiative for Sanctions Relief.
The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Josefine Petrick.
To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read the hosts reflections on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/