Sanctions Sometimes Smart: Targeted Sanctions in Theory and Practice

Abstract

This essay reviews the literature and origins of the targeted sanctions framework. The development of smart sanctions has solved many of the political problems that prior efforts at comprehensive trade sanctions had created. In so doing, the idea of smart sanctions served as a useful focal point for policy coordination among key stakeholders. Nevertheless, there is no systematic evidence that smart sanctions will yield better policy results vis-à-vis the targeted country. Indeed, in many ways, the smart sanctions framework has been too successful. It would behoove policymakers and scholars to look beyond the targeted sanctions framework to examine the conditions under which different kinds of economic statecraft should be deployed.

The future of health in Zimbabwe

“…In order to punish the Mugabe regime, the International Monetary Fund stopped lending to Zimbabwe in 1999 and a litany of sanctions followed, by the US, UK, and EU, making it difficult for aid organizations to deliver food and health aid and discouraging foreign direct investment [15–17]. Although foreign governments lifted some sanctions or imposed ‘targeted’ sanctions [18], more can be done. President Mnangagwa recently called for universal lifting of sanctions [19].…”

“…Although often designed to curtail human rights abuses, the effectiveness of sanctions is an ongoing debate [20–22]. Even ‘targeted’ sanctions have mixed results: they often do not produce policy change on the ground [18], and in Zimbabwe have had the knock-on effect of decreasing donor and investor willingness to engage. Ultimately, these sanctions end up punishing some of the most vulnerable citizens rather than perpetrators of human rights abuses.…”

Sanctions and Democratization in the Post-Cold War Era

“…As a consequence of the devastating humanitarian effects of the comprehensive sanctions against Iraq in the early 1990s, senders now almost exclusively utilize targeted sanctions (Drezner 2011). In contrast to comprehensive sanctions, which treat nations as unitary actors, these measures target particular individuals or groups (for an overview Biersteker et al 2005).…”

Sanctions Reconsidered: the Path Forward with North Korea

“…While arguing that it is advisable for the international community to continue the close monitoring of trade related to missile and nuclear technology and other arms, and to look for ways to squeeze the "court economy" and transactions from exported laborers, we conclude by building on and adding to the recent criticism of smart sanctions, noting that some sanctions can even prove counterproductive by nipping much welcome contacts with the international community in the bud. 8 In the final analysis, the smartest sanctions have to go hand-inhand with much smarter diplomacy.…”