The Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia in December 2010 and then rippled through the Middle East during the next two years, has toppled regimes in Libya and Egypt and has sparked protracted periods of civil disobedience in Syria. As a result of the unrest, the U.S. government enacted or expanded economic sanctions against Libya and Syria in an effort to weaken the viability of those countries’ ruling regimes by reducing or halting the flow of money or goods from American businesses.
Although the sanctions against Libya were lifted following the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi, the sanctions against Syria remain in effect, including recent provisions targeting the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria and mobile phone company Syriatel.
