This article reviews the literature on the “smart sanctions” approach developed in the late 1990s in response to the failure of conventional sanctions and questions the efficacy of this instrument. Smart sanctions modify the conventional sanctions tool by targeting the culpable political elites by means of arms embargoes, financial sanctions, and travel restrictions and by cushioning vulnerable groups (children, women, the infirm, and the elderly) by exempting specified commodities such as food and medical supplies from embargoes. This two-pronged sanctions approach is designed to hit the real perpetrators directly and spare potential innocent victims, thus leading to the speedier change of sanctionee behavior. Although the special design of smart sanctions may seem logically compelling and politically attractive, this article argues that the numerous operational problems involved, combined with the intricacies of the political processes of the UN Security Council, will make a smart sanctions regime difficult to establish and enforce effectively.
This article deals with attempts during the last three years to build up regional co‐operation between nine independent states in southern Africa. It details the ambitious plans, especially in the field of transport, that have been put forward by this Southern African Development Co‐ordination Conference (SADCC), and explores the problems involved in bringing them to fruition. These issues are examined against a background of the extreme dependence of the SADCC countries on South Africa. Finally, the political problems of SADCC — the differing ideological and policy stances of the nine states, especially vis‐à‐vis South Africa, and the role of imperialist interests — are raised, together with the need for more adequate theoretical understanding of regionalism and ‘sub‐imperialism’.
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