Lifting Syria Sanctions, UK Joins Strategic East-Med Power Play

The U.K.’s recent lifting of sanctions on several major Syrian firms – particularly those connected to its former cornerstone oil and gas sectors – is part of a coordinated strategy by the West to secure the western flank of the Middle East that has unfettered access to the Mediterranean Sea. “That coastline encompasses Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt and is regarded as a strategic zero-sum game by both the West and the East, given the access it provides to the world’s sea routes and to land routes along in…