Writing in the Saudi-owned paper, as-Sharq al-Awsat, Hussein Shobokshi discusses the recent visit to Syria by senior figures from leading American IT companies: Microsoft, Dell, Cisco Systems and Symantec.

He points out that the ability of these companies to do business in Syria is at present limited by US sanctions. In May, President Obama renewed sanctions against Syria for a further 12 months, though the US says it is willing to grant exemptions for "products related to information technology and telecommunication equipment and parts and components related to the safety of civil aviation".

Sanctions, originally introduced under President Bush, were meant to punish the Syrian regime, though there is now growing recognition of their adverse effects on citizen activists.

Shobokshi notes that Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, believes "modern high-tech goods, as well as modern digital and telecommunication technology, will positively and effectively contribute to improving the climate of freedom and bringing in public participation in political decision-making".

Clearly, American companies also have their eye on Syria's potential as a market for their products. 

Jared Cohen, a 28-year-old State Department official who was a member of the delegation to Syria, told CNN: "Syria's population is going to double in the next 17 years ... Young people in Syria are going to become increasingly digital and connected or increasingly isolated. It is in our interest to see they are digital and connected."

(It was Cohen who last year asked Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance so that supporters of the Iranian opposition could continue to tweet in the wake of the disputed presidential election.)

Sanctions are not the whole problem, however. According to an unnamed delegation member quoted by Reuters, Dell computers, Microsoft Office and Cisco routers can already be sold in Syria under an exemption granted by President Bush back in 2004, "as long as those tools are not used against the Syrian people". Despite the waiver, though, sales are not happening.

Other factors impeding sales include lack of efforts to combat piracy and intellectual property theft, along with widespread corruption and internet censorship. Pirated software is available in Syria for a fraction of what legitimate versions would cost.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 4 July 2010.