Sanctions as a Foreign Policy Tool: Weighing Humanitarian Impulses

Abstract

Economic sanctions have become a popular multilateral and bilateral enforcement measure in the 1990s. Their efficacy is doubtful along with their moral superiority over military force. Substantial suffering by vulnerable groups in Iraq, former Yugoslavia, and Haiti has led to a `bust' for this foreign policy tool. Sanctions can be designed to be more effective and less inhumane than they are at present, but much more research is required about their precise impact on civilians and on targeted regimes. Early post-Cold War euphoria is giving way to more realistic and subtle assessments of the pluses and minuses of economic and military coercion.

Economic Sanctions and Political Repression: Assessing the Impact of Coercive Diplomacy on Political Freedoms

“…The extant literature on the utility of economic coercion largely overlooks the possible unintended side effects sanctions may have. The literature on the humanitarian impact of economic coercion shows that sanctions could lead to civilian pain by disrupting the economic, demographic, health, and governance capacity of target countries (e.g., Lopez 1995, 2000;Weiss et al 1997;Weiss 1999;Gibbons 1999). The immediate economic costs and possible other indirect effects of economic pressure are found to be damaging to average citizens in such areas as personal security, physical quality of life, and a deterioration in social services.…”

Causes of Domestic Terrorism: Economic Sanctions as a Violence Trigger Structure

“…Once economic sanctions are put in place, the breakdown of economic func-tion can be expected to follow; however, economic hardship is not likely to be evenly distributed across domestic constituencies. Among the various social classes, the standard of living of the poor is likely to experience the greatest degradation due to the shortage of economic necessities, while that of the rich tends to be the least affected (Weiss et al 1997;Weiss 1999;Wood 2008). Upon the imposition of economic sanctions, rulers in a sanctioned country must find other ways to compensate for the decrease in government revenue and foreign economic resources.…”

“…At the outset, it should be noted that the sanctions-international terrorism connection is beyond the scope of this study as it is a new research project requiring a different causal explanation and empirical model. Instead, this study presents a causal mechanism in which economic sanctions are conceptualized as "a violence trigger structure" that intensifies the despair of poor people who may, then, employ terrorist violence against domestic targets in order to avenge feelings of anger and frustration (see Gurr 1970;Weiss 1999;Rowe 2001;Allen 2008;Wood 2008). Specifically, this study argues that because economic sanctions primarily impact poor people in the affected country, they cause feelings of deprivation and bitterness which can function as a breeding ground for terrorism; this anger is often directed towards the government and its key supporters, in the form of domestic terrorism.…”

Economic Sanctions and Culture

“…On smart sanctions, see also Weiss (1999), Cortright and Lopez (2000, 2002a, 2002b, Lopez (2001), Cortright, Lopez and Rogers (2002), Cortright, Millar and Lopez (2002).…”