Economic Sanctions Reconsidered

by Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Jeffrey J. Schott, Kimberly Ann Elliott

Economic sanctions continue to play an important role in the response to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, military conflicts, and other foreign policy crises. But poor design and implementation of sanctions policies often mean that they fall short of their desired effects. This landmark study, first published in 1985, delves into the rich experience of sanctions in the 20th century to harvest lessons on how to use sanctions more effectively.

This volume is the updated third edition of this widely cited study. It chronicles and examines 170 cases of economic sanctions imposed since World War I. Fifty of these cases were launched in the 1990s and are new to this edition. Special attention is paid to new developments arising from the end of the Cold War and increasing globalization of the world economy. Analyzing a range of economic and political factors that can influence the success of a sanctions episode, the authors distill a set of commandments to guide policymakers in the effective use of sanctions.

Genres: Political Science, Politics, Economics

248 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1985

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna]

interview

Gary Hufbauer: All the economic sanctions in the last four decades or five decades have had less than a two percent impact on the GDP of the target country. Two percent is not a very big figure.

Now there are exceptions: the sanctions against Iraq prior to the Gulf Wars had a much bigger impact, probably 15 percent.

The sanctions against Iran probably have an impact prior to the JCPOA/nuclear deal [at] about five percent. So that’s the range of impact.

If the target country is a large country which has a very strong leader, and has no internal political dissent or conflict, then, in those circumstances, the sanctions are unlikely to produce regime change.