Undof peacekeepers operate within a demilitarized buffer zone from which Israeli and Syrian forces are prohibited, and in outlying areas where government forces are permitted, in numbers that increase the further from the buffer zone.

WSJ: Syrian Rebels Abduct U.N. Soldiers

However, many of these benefits have diminished in the 30 years since Britain joined the predecessor to the EU. One of the EU's main purposes is to be a regional free-trade zone, and Britain is now prohibited from granting its former colonies special privileges.

ECONOMIST: What’s the Commonwealth for? | The