The Political Economy of Sanctions

The literature on sanctions presents a mixed record on the effectiveness of their use as a tool of economic statecraft. Targeted sanctions, which focuses on specific individuals and organizations, tend to be more effective than country-wide sanctions, not to mention that United Nations-backed sanctions may enjoy more legitimacy than bilateral ones. Beyond those dichotomies, the panel seeks to explore the political economy of sanctions by assessing the indirect role of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and third parties other than those in conflict in the success or failure of those tools of statecraft amidst fierce geopolitical competition.