Regional Sanctions Against Burundi: A Powerful Campaign and Its Unintended Consequences

Landlocked states are a special category of countries whose economic and social development is associated with a number of additional difficulties due to their geographical location. Among them are: limitation of participation in the international division of labor, high transport costs and costs associated with bureaucratic procedures for crossing the borders of third countries, as well as reducing the competitiveness of exports. The African continent has the largest number of such states. Simultaneously with the indicated political and geographical feature, various sanctions are in force or imposed on a number of this category of African countries, both by the UN and states individually. The sum of these factors negatively affected the development of these states. This article examines in detail two country cases of applying international sanctions against landlocked African countries: the CAR and Mali. The study led to the conclusion that the effectiveness of sanctions imposed against these countries and targeted sanctions against members of their political elites is low. The main damage and negative consequences are for the general population, since they directly relate to everyday life needs and requirements. For a significant part of the population of both countries, the costs of sanctions are compensated by the possibilities of the “economy of war”: illegal extraction of local natural resources, smuggling and speculation of essential goods. Peculiarities of the country’s geographical position, lack of access to the sea, under these conditions, can serve as a factor for further “decoupling” of elites from the sanctions issue and the continuation of their policies.

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The Impact of Economic Sanctions on the Least Developed Countries (Comparative Case Studies of the DRС and Somalia)

Sharova

2019

Journal of the Institute for African Studies

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Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is an official term applied within the United Nations to the countries with low living standards, weak economies, where people and resources are highly exposed to the vulnerability criterion of natural shocks. The African continent has the largest number of such states (33). Simultaneously, various sanctions are in force or imposed on a number of this category of African countries, both by the UN and states individually. This article examines in detail two country cases of applying international sanctions against least developed African countries: the DRC and Somalia. The analysis of the economic dynamics of these countries (as well as the CAR and Mali that are also LDCs and are subject to sanctions regimes) led to the conclusion that the effectiveness of sanctions imposed against these countries and targeted sanctions against members of their political elites is low. The negative effects associated with the implementation of the sanctions policy against these states are manifested mostly by a decrease in the volume of exports and a decrease in FDI inflows.

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Regional Sanctions Against Burundi: A Powerful Campaign and Its Unintended Consequences

Cited by 3 publications

References 49 publications

Unity or Identity? How the Ambivalences of the African Union’s Collective Identity Formation Play Out in Contemporary African Politics. The Case of the 2015 Burundi Crisis

Unity or Identity? How the Ambivalences of the African Union’s Collective Identity Formation Play Out in Contemporary African Politics. The Case of the 2015 Burundi Crisis

The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Landlocked States (Comparative Case Studies of CAR and Mali)

The Impact of Economic Sanctions on the Least Developed Countries (Comparative Case Studies of the DRС and Somalia)

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