Question

Why are sanctions important in foreign policy?

Answer 1

Solution:

Economic sanctions have played an important role in foreign policy throughout the twentieth century. Economic sanctions often emerge as the centerpiece when a balance is needed between actions that seem too soft or too strident.

Economic sanctions are defined as the withdrawal of customary trade and financial relations for foreign and security policy purposes. They may be comprehensive, prohibiting commercial activity with regard to an entire country, like the long-standing U.S. embargo of Cuba, or they may be targeted, blocking transactions of and with particular businesses, groups, or individuals.

When are sanctions used?

National governments and international bodies like the United Nations and European Union have imposed economic sanctions to coerce, deter, punish, or shame entities that endanger their interests or violate international norms of behavior. They have been used to advance a range of foreign policy goals, including counterterrorism, counter narcotics, nonproliferation, democracy and human rights promotion, conflict resolution, and cybersecurity.

What is the sanctions process at the UN?

As the UN’s principal crisis-management body, the Security Council may respond to global threats by cutting economic ties with state and nonstate groups. Sanctions resolutions must pass the fifteen-member Council by a majority vote and without a veto from any of the five permanent members: the United States, China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The most common types of UN sanctions, which are binding on all member states, are asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes.

Economic sanctions have played an important role in foreign policy throughout the twentieth century. In a comprehensive study of sanctions, we have documented 103 cases since the beginning of World War I where sanctions have been deployed by a number of countries in pursuit of foreign policy goals.' The United States has practiced the art of economic coercion far more than any other country, participating in 68 of the 103 cases; but the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France, and the Arab League have also utilized sanctions on numerous occasions. The popularity of sanctions has waxed and waned over the years, but they have never quite gone out of style. The conspicuous failures of recent episodes involving the U.S. 'grain embargo against the Soviet Union and sanctions against the construction of the Soviet-European gas pipeline raised serious doubts as to the efficacy of sanctions in a world of interdependent economies. Yet, despite these questions, the United States continues to turn to sanctions as an answer to foreign policy disputes. Most recently, President Reagan has waged economic warfare against Nicaragua while the Congress has called for, and the President has agreed to, certain sanctions against South Africa. A country can address foreign policy disputes in five different ways: diplomacy, political coercion, economic coercion, covert action, and military intervention. Policy responses often involve a combination of these ingredients. Economic sanctions often emerge as the centerpiece when a balance is needed between actions that seem too soft or too strident