Policymakers in the United States and elsewhere should learn from this experience when deploying sanctions in the future. 5/5

Washington was right to impose consequences on settler violence. But sanctions cannot be truly effective as long as they are a surrogate for a broader policy on Israel’s settlements. 4/5

But it is clear that the sanctions failed to stem rising settler violence during the eleven months they were in effect—and became burdened by loopholes and backlash over the course of their brief existence. 3/5

President Trump scrapped the sanctions on his first day in office, and it is impossible to know whether the sanctions regime would have ultimately evolved into a more effective policy under a different American administration. 2/5

The chance to improve Libya’s long-term future should not be missed. Modest reforms carry low risk and could better protect Libyan wealth. They would also boost the credibility of UN sanctions, which risk fair criticism as outdated. The Council and LIA should take action. End/

🚩The Council should pursue further sanctions reforms to let the fund grow, but maintain safeguards
🚩With no imminent resolution to Libya’s political crisis, they should set a realistic plan for long-term sanctions relief
🚩LIA must improve its credibility and transparency 8/

The reforms remove important curbs on the fund, but sanctions still block it from growing to its full potential. What should be done? 7/

In January 2025, the Security Council made a novel decision to reform the LIA sanctions regime by allowing the fund to invest its cash reserves, as long as the reinvested funds and the interest they accrue remain frozen. 6/

But sanctions may have also saved the LIA. After the revolution, other Libyan institutions were dogged by allegations of corruption and misappropriation. The LIA was not, at least not on the same scale. Sanctions protected the LIA from graft. 5/

Years of sanctions have curbed the LIA's growth. Billions of dollars sat in cash for 10+ years without the LIA being able to reinvest them. The LIA's growth stagnated while other wealth funds, and the markets, soared. 4/

Almost 15 years after the revolution, Libya is still embroiled in political and economic turmoil. Political elites benefit from the country’s enormous oil wealth, but the Libyan people see little of it. 3/

I went to Tripoli with my colleague @claudiagazzini.bsky.social to understand what the sanctions on the fund, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), mean for Libyans. 2/

As in centuries past, those who wield famine as a weapon will be able to deny or hide what they are doing – and responsible actors will find their ability to cry foul radically diminished. 4/4

We could return to the grim situation of the last century, where great famines – meaning those with death tolls in the hundreds of thousands – are the norm. Yet most of the world may not even realise that a famine is taking place. 3/

More frequent and deadlier famines are likely since the Trump administration's moves to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and slash U.S. foreign aid budgets. 2/