October 27, 2014 – Selection of Articles and Reports on Syrian Economic, Business and Social Issues

The following is a selection of articles and reports written in the last week on Syria, related to economic, business and social issues:

U.S.-led Bombardment Challenges Islamic State’s Hold on Eastern Syria: “This has increased the urgency for forging an international solution to Syria’s civil war that not only addresses the jihadist dimension but also includes a strategy to reclaim the east – namely one that provides an alternative to Islamist militancy and the Assad family’s reign.”

Taxation and the Rising Cost of Living in Syria: “Meeting living expenses is a daily priority for Syrians, who are paying the costs of this conflict and the difficult conditions it has generated.”

Syria ranks bottom in index on civil unrest threat to business: “Syria was the worst performer in a civil unrest index released on Wednesday which showed that strikes, protests and conflict have increased the risk of business disruption in one in five countries over the past three months.”

Displaced Syrians Lok to Start a new Life: “Data provided by the Prime Ministry’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) that oversees the needs of the displaced, indicate Syrians set up 1,898 businesses in Turkey since they first started arriving in Turkey en masse when the conflict broke out in Syria four years ago.”

Cutting off ISIS’ Cash Flow: “The Islamic State (or ISIS) is “the best-funded terrorist organization we’ve confronted,” but “we have no silver bullet, no secret weapon to empty ISIS’ coffers overnight.””U.S. warns of sanctions on buyers of Islamic State oil: “The Obama administration on Thursday threatened to slap sanctions on anyone buying oil from Islamic State militants in an effort to disrupt what it said was a $1-million-a-day funding source.”

War on Isis: US ‘planning to bomb oil pipelines’ to halt jihadists’ funding: “The US is considering bombing pipelines in Syria in an attempt to cut off the huge profits being made by Isis from captured oilfields, a senior Obama administration official disclosed today.”

Turkish middlemen involved in ISIL black market oil sales, US says: “The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is selling oil at substantially discounted prices to a variety of middlemen, including some from Turkey, who then transport the oil to be resold, a US Treasury Department official said Thursday.”