... interstate ties and the interests of states often outweigh supranational ones. At the same time, integration cooperation made it possible for the member states to somewhat harmonize and coordinate their joint response to the pandemic. Sweeping anti-Russian sanctions have created new, unprecedented risks for integration cooperation, but at the same time have opened up certain opportunities to overcome their consequences.
Integration Dialectic
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated dialectical contradictions that have emerged in the system of modern international relations over the last decade. On the one hand, as inter- and supranational institutions become weaker, the “Westphalian” state regains ...
... were having on the human rights agenda and economic growth.
On April 3, 2020, Alena Douhan,
UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of the Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights
, called for lifting or at least suspending sanctions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In her opinion, unilateral measures adopted in circumvention of the UN Security Council affect economic, social and civil rights and, most importantly, the right to development. The pandemic has obviously resulted in unemployment, bankruptcy ...
... (fewer than 6,000), the proportion of infected individuals in the population (0.03%) or the country’s 129th place in the world ranking (see the table compiled by the author based on data for 18 and 23 October 2020, taken from
coronavirus-control.ru
):
COVID-19 in Syria and Neighbouring Countries
The good indicators are partly explained by the fact that wartime Syria under sanctions has been a closed country compared to the more open Israel, Lebanon and Turkey, this reducing the objective risk of infection. Even after Damascus International Airport (which had not functioned since March) was opened on October 1, 2020, the ...
... sanctions against foreign citizens for cooperating with Damascus in oil, gas, aviation, defence and construction. The
original sanctions list
was made up of 39 Syrian individuals and legal entities, including Bashar al-Assad, his wife and his brother and ... ... Aggravating the Socioeconomic Situation in Syria
Aleksandr Aksenenok:
The Coronavirus and Conflicts in the Middle East
The COVID-19 Pandemic
At first glance, Syria does not appear to be a coronavirus hot spot. The country has a population of over
16....
... sector. Huawei and ZTE were
swiped
from the U.S. market. The U.S. also has been widely applying its longer-used instrument of sanctions not solemnly limited to hi-tech giants. Chinese
officials
in Xinjiang and
foreigners
doing business in Hong Kong also ... ... tried and tested partners — namely Russia. Despite a minuscule
slide
in bilateral trade (a 4% decline compared to 2019) amid COVID-19, political cooperation has been developing. In early July, both countries
demonstrated
close coordination in high-level ...
... 38.4 million people (25 million in Yemen, 11 million in Syria and 2.4 million in Libya) are in need of humanitarian aid. Until recently, the World Health Organisation had no information about Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the number of COVID-19 cases. Overcrowded city centres, prisons and camps for refugees and displaced persons are seen as the source of the infection.
Ivan Timofeev:
The Price of Sanctions is Human Lives
Syria is a special case in the general picture of Middle Eastern conflicts amid the coronavirus pandemic. The outcome of the internal confrontation will have far-reaching consequences. If compromise solutions are found, a settled ...
... sentiment is growing in Congress, which may push the administration to impose sanctions. The main initiators there are also Republicans. Over the past month and a half, a number of bills have been submitted to Congress that specify ways of imposing sanctions against China in connection with COVID-19. Along with the bills, a series of resolutions has also been proposed condemning China, calling it to account, and at the same time again raising a number of other problems, including human rights and minority rights.
At first glance, congressional ...
... Department of State
The United States Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The U.S. authorities demand to release the American citizens jailed abroad (
https://www.state.gov/secretary-michael-r-pompeo-at-a-pres…/
). They are promising to impose sanctions against “guilty governments”, should their compatriots die due to the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the situation with COVID-19 in the American correctional facilities keeps deteriorating rapidly (
https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/
). Many inmates are infected, some of them have deceased. There is hardly any medical assistance for the convicted, neither there is coronavirus ...
... offices and branches of Russian companies have been working as usual. Of course, they take all the necessary precautions against COVID-19. … If the situation on the ground deteriorates dramatically and poses a direct threat to the life and health of Russian ... ....”
It also remains to be seen whether the two sides will cut a deal that entails different regional risks and could invite US sanctions. Besides, implementation would require a stable government in Baghdad. As snap parliamentary elections are possible ...
Individual exemptions will have no effect without significant systemic changes introduced at least for the period of the pandemic
The COVID-19 epidemic has sparked a discussion about the possible suspension of economic sanctions. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is among those calling for such a step to be taken.
Indeed, the virus is now spreading globally, and developed countries are suffering tremendous losses. States placed under sanctions face even greater ...
