United Nations Nonproliferation Sanctions

Abstract

For bibliographies on targeted sanctions, especially the 1267 committee, see the Watson Institute for International Studies projects on targeted sanctions and terrorist financing, www.watsoninstitute.org. The Center for Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation provides excellent analysis and information regarding security council efforts to counter terrorism, www.globalct.org.Much has been written about the role of UN sanctions to counter terrorism in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, specifically sanctions against al Qaeda and the Taliban under resolution 1267, and broader UN counterterrorism initiatives under resolution 1373. 1 Less attention has been focused on multilateral sanctions for nonproliferation objectives, despite the extensive efforts of the security council since the end of the Cold War to thwart proliferation as well as terrorism. Indeed, before the December 2009 arms embargo was imposed on Eritrea, no new UN sanctions had been adopted since 2006 that were not proliferation or terrorism-related. This article will discuss current UN sanctions to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), consider the lessons of counterterrorism

Economic sanctions, resource wealth, and increased state utility

“…For the past 30-plus years, the U.S. has had various sanctions implemented against the nation, claiming that the government is directly supporting several terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestine Islamic Jihad (Eckert, 2010 (Eckert, 2010). (Gold, 2009).…”

“…The U.S. also points to Iran's continued claim of sovereignty over the Island of Abu Musa, which is located along oil routes in the Persian Gulf, as a sign of Iran's continued desire to be a regional hegemon (Eckert, 2010). This is a long-standing dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.…”

“…He states that the Iranian government has begun to build up the nation's infrastructure. Eckert (2010) states that the government has begun to rebuild much of infrastructure destroyed or damaged during the hostilities of the Iran-Iraq conflict. He also explains that the Iranians have begun to build and use multiple new sea and air ports.…”

“…They are today very active in exporting steel, copper, and aluminum. Eckert (2010) sums things up by pointing out that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the European press all indicated that the effects of sanctions were only having a marginal effect on the Iranian economy.…”

“…For many years, China has acted as a black knight in the Iranian case. China is a rapidly growing economy and has experienced immense industrialization as the government's economic reforms have pushed the nation into an industrial revolution (Eckert, 2010). China's industrialization has been accompanied by a dramatic rise in the nation's population, which has created a high demand for oil.…”