Do economic sanctions still work? Did they ever work? In this blog post, Professor Peter van Bergeijk takes a more nuanced look.
A century ago, economic sanctions were seen as very effective instruments of foreign policy. The introduction of this ‘terrible weapon’ by the League of Nations was accompanied by suggestions that sanctions could be a substitute for war. 'A nation that is boycotted is a nation that is in sight of surrender', claimed US President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.
A century later we remember the sanctions against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, against the nuclear proliferation of Iran and North Korea and we see Russian aggression in the Crimea that is not stopped by economic punishment. It looks as if sanctions do not work at all. This is, however, merely an example of how headline cases can bias opinions – even scientific evidence – regarding a policy tool.
A nuanced look at the efficacy of economic sanctions
In this blog post, Professor Peter van Bergeijk discusses the findings of research presented in the Research Handbook on Economic Sanctions.
The book paints a much more nuanced picture based on top-notch research by a group of eminent scholars from all continents that delve into the conditions under which economic sanctions could be made to work.
Read the blog post - 'Do sanctions work?' on the Elgar blog
Peter van Bergeijk
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