Research · Reference
Policy glossary
The laws, agreements, institutions and places that come up again and again in relations between the United States and Pakistan, each explained in a short, neutral, sourced entry.
65 entries, A to Z
10 of 65 terms in Law & sanctions. Show all
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Brown Amendment
law & sanctions. A 1995 amendment sponsored by Senator Hank Brown that eased the Pressler Amendment’s restrictions on Pakistan. It allowed a one-time release of about $368 million of military equipment that Pakistan had bought before October 1990, while still barring delivery of the 28 F-16 aircraft it had ordered, and limited the Pressler restrictions to military assistance so that economic aid could resume.F
FATF grey list
law & sanctions. Also grey list, gray list, jurisdictions under increased monitoring. The informal name for the Financial Action Task Force’s list of “jurisdictions under increased monitoring”: countries that have committed to fix strategic weaknesses in their measures against money laundering and terrorist financing under an agreed action plan. Pakistan was placed on it in June 2018 and removed in October 2022, after completing two action plans with 34 items in total.Foreign Terrorist Organization
law & sanctions. Also FTO. A designation made by the US Secretary of State under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act for a foreign organisation that engages in terrorism, or keeps the capability and intent to, and threatens US nationals or US national security. Congress is notified seven days before designation. It is a crime to knowingly provide a designated group with material support. Groups designated include the TTP and the Haqqani network.G
Glenn Amendment
law & sanctions. Also Section 102(b) of the Arms Export Control Act. Section 102(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, commonly called the Glenn Amendment after Senator John Glenn, requires sanctions on any non-nuclear-weapon state, as defined by the NPT, that detonates a nuclear explosive device. They include ending most foreign and military assistance and opposing loans from international financial institutions. President Clinton applied them to India on 13 May 1998 and to Pakistan on 30 May 1998, after both countries’ nuclear tests; many were later eased or waived.I
International Traffic in Arms Regulations
law & sanctions. Also ITAR. US regulations (22 CFR parts 120–130) that implement the Arms Export Control Act by controlling the export, temporary import and brokering of defence articles, defence services and technical data on the US Munitions List. They are administered by the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls; manufacturers and exporters must register and generally need a licence. Government-to-government sales follow the separate Foreign Military Sales process.L
Leahy Law
law & sanctions. Also Leahy laws, Leahy vetting. Two US statutory provisions, one governing State Department and one Defense Department funds, named after Senator Patrick Leahy, that prohibit assistance to a unit of a foreign security force where there is credible information implicating that unit in a gross violation of human rights. The US government treats torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance and rape under color of law as such violations, and vets recipient units before providing assistance.P
Pressler Amendment
law & sanctions. Also Section 620E(e). A 1985 provision of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (section 620E(e)), named for Senator Larry Pressler, that barred US military and economic assistance to Pakistan unless the President certified each year that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear explosive device. Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush certified annually until October 1990, when no certification was made and most aid stopped. In 1995 the restriction was narrowed to military assistance.S
Section 508
law & sanctions. Also Section 7008, coup restriction. A recurring provision of US foreign-aid appropriations, long numbered section 508 and later section 7008, that bars most assistance to the government of a country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by a military coup or decree; aid to promote democracy is exempt. It applied to Pakistan after General Pervez Musharraf took power in October 1999, and Congress gave the President authority to waive it for Pakistan after the 2001 attacks.Symington Amendment
law & sanctions. A provision of US foreign-assistance law, named for Senator Stuart Symington and in effect from 1977, that bars most economic and military aid to a country outside the NPT that delivers or receives uranium-enrichment equipment, materials or technology without international safeguards. In April 1979 the Carter administration suspended aid to Pakistan under it because of the Kahuta enrichment plant. Congress later authorised a waiver for Pakistan as aid resumed in the 1980s.No terms match your search.
Definitions are kept short and neutral, and each cites its sources on the term’s page. Spotted something to correct? Tell us.