Why sanctions are a bad idea
November 4, 2021 12:26 PM Subscribe
An overview of sanctions-- they impoverish the public where they're applied even if there's an effort to target a few high status people. This kills people.
There's no discussion of whether they also impoverish potential trading partners, but I would expect they do.
There's no discussion (unless I missed it) of sanctions intended to weaken the targets militarily.
There's a distinction between unilateral sanctions (generally? always?) by the US compared to sanctions by the UN.
Sanctions generally don't lead to regime change. I believe sanctions against apartheid in South Africa worked relatively well, but they were aimed at policy change not regime change, and I believe they had local support. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Sanctions make bad governments worse, partly by offering a convenient excuse for why living conditions are bad, and partly by eliminating resources for resistance.
The US government is responsible for a lot of sanctioning because sanctions combine looking as though politicians are doing something while not taking on the responsibility of a shooting war. I suggest that it's also a result of wealth disparity between the US and a lot of the rest of the world.
Note that this is a libertarian source. Libertarians believe that trade is a human right-- the article isn't just an attack on sanctions which are against some particular country.
If you've got other good sources which are opposed to sanctions in general, let me know.
There's no discussion of whether they also impoverish potential trading partners, but I would expect they do.
There's no discussion (unless I missed it) of sanctions intended to weaken the targets militarily.
There's a distinction between unilateral sanctions (generally? always?) by the US compared to sanctions by the UN.
Sanctions generally don't lead to regime change. I believe sanctions against apartheid in South Africa worked relatively well, but they were aimed at policy change not regime change, and I believe they had local support. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Sanctions make bad governments worse, partly by offering a convenient excuse for why living conditions are bad, and partly by eliminating resources for resistance.
The US government is responsible for a lot of sanctioning because sanctions combine looking as though politicians are doing something while not taking on the responsibility of a shooting war. I suggest that it's also a result of wealth disparity between the US and a lot of the rest of the world.
Note that this is a libertarian source. Libertarians believe that trade is a human right-- the article isn't just an attack on sanctions which are against some particular country.
If you've got other good sources which are opposed to sanctions in general, let me know.
Was thinking "this seems like it was written by someone who doesn't want consequences" and then found out it was by the Cato Institute
posted by Merus at 2:03 PM on November 4, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Merus at 2:03 PM on November 4, 2021 [5 favorites]
If, like me, you don't know who or what the Cato Institute is, they're a large American libertarian thinktank.
Personally, I think the links StrikeTheViol share are also useful. I'm not a fan of broad-ranging sanctions, but I do like highly-targeted assets freezing of high ranking individuals in despotic regimes. Oh, you're profiteering while your people starve. Hope you don't want to be able to actually use all that money you're siphoning off.
posted by Braeburn at 3:08 PM on November 4, 2021
Personally, I think the links StrikeTheViol share are also useful. I'm not a fan of broad-ranging sanctions, but I do like highly-targeted assets freezing of high ranking individuals in despotic regimes. Oh, you're profiteering while your people starve. Hope you don't want to be able to actually use all that money you're siphoning off.
posted by Braeburn at 3:08 PM on November 4, 2021
Regarding US sanctions on Iraq :
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/06/25/killing-them-softly-sanctions
posted by torii hugger at 5:15 PM on November 4, 2021
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/06/25/killing-them-softly-sanctions
posted by torii hugger at 5:15 PM on November 4, 2021
... highly-targeted assets ...
Like sanctions against ICC lawyers ?
posted by torii hugger at 5:22 PM on November 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
Like sanctions against ICC lawyers ?
posted by torii hugger at 5:22 PM on November 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
There is a leftist discussion of this issue - I came here to try to find out why the boys from Citations Needed hate sanctions so much.
posted by Selena777 at 7:47 PM on November 4, 2021
posted by Selena777 at 7:47 PM on November 4, 2021
No Torii, like against high ranking individuals in despotic regimes.
Targeting ICC staff is obviously a misuse of sanctions by the Trump administration.
posted by Braeburn at 1:14 AM on November 5, 2021
Targeting ICC staff is obviously a misuse of sanctions by the Trump administration.
posted by Braeburn at 1:14 AM on November 5, 2021
I knew my source wouldn't go over well here, but a post (basically the same as the one here) on facebook got so little response that I thought I'd repost here.
As far as I can tell, there's some overlap between progressive and libertarian positions, but there's too much hatred (from both sides) to make collaboration possible.
To my mind, the issue is that sanctions cause so much damage that they should be getting more opposition.
I should give the links here another pass, but if I understand the point, it's that sanctions are good some of the time, but they're overapplied.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 1:53 AM on November 5, 2021
As far as I can tell, there's some overlap between progressive and libertarian positions, but there's too much hatred (from both sides) to make collaboration possible.
To my mind, the issue is that sanctions cause so much damage that they should be getting more opposition.
I should give the links here another pass, but if I understand the point, it's that sanctions are good some of the time, but they're overapplied.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 1:53 AM on November 5, 2021
Of course, I understand that you were talking about despots.
In the case of the ICC, Biden has apparently rolled these back as of April, 2021. To great fanfare, I imagine. Which Democrats railed against these sanctions when they were enacted, by the way? I'm sure they were appalled, but I must have missed that news cycle. Anyway, I'm sure the Biden administration will get around to signing the US up to the court any day now.
posted by torii hugger at 7:07 AM on November 5, 2021
In the case of the ICC, Biden has apparently rolled these back as of April, 2021. To great fanfare, I imagine. Which Democrats railed against these sanctions when they were enacted, by the way? I'm sure they were appalled, but I must have missed that news cycle. Anyway, I'm sure the Biden administration will get around to signing the US up to the court any day now.
posted by torii hugger at 7:07 AM on November 5, 2021
torii hugger, I'm so fried I'm not even sure which despots you're talking about. Imposing sanctions might count as despotic.
I think the US government is bad, though far from the worst. For some reason, hammering on about how bad the US justice system is seems more moderate than pushing back against sanctions in general, possibly because the justice system is at least a topic of discussion, while relatively non-violent abuse of people outside the country doesn't get as much attention.
As for Cuba, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-10-18/biden-leaves-cuba-in-the-deep-freeze
“Swiftly,” Carlos Fernández de Cossío said. Biden had campaigned with the vow of a fast rollback of many of the toughest policies imposed on Cuba by President Trump. But nearly nine months into the Biden administration, little has changed.
To punish Cuba and win political points in Florida, Trump took steps to reverse the diplomatic thaw started by President Obama. Trump suspended remittances, the money Cuban Americans and others send to relatives and friends on the island; made drastic cuts in travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba; blocked some oil shipments to the country; and, on one of the last days of his administration, placed Cuba on the very short list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Far from lifting the sanctions, however, the Biden administration tightened them in July after Cuban authorities’ violent crackdown on rare anti-government demonstrations and the arrest of hundreds."
Reuters, which might not be paywalled.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/biden-meet-cuban-american-leaders-amid-calls-tougher-action-havana-2021-07-30/
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 8:44 AM on November 5, 2021
I think the US government is bad, though far from the worst. For some reason, hammering on about how bad the US justice system is seems more moderate than pushing back against sanctions in general, possibly because the justice system is at least a topic of discussion, while relatively non-violent abuse of people outside the country doesn't get as much attention.
As for Cuba, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-10-18/biden-leaves-cuba-in-the-deep-freeze
“Swiftly,” Carlos Fernández de Cossío said. Biden had campaigned with the vow of a fast rollback of many of the toughest policies imposed on Cuba by President Trump. But nearly nine months into the Biden administration, little has changed.
To punish Cuba and win political points in Florida, Trump took steps to reverse the diplomatic thaw started by President Obama. Trump suspended remittances, the money Cuban Americans and others send to relatives and friends on the island; made drastic cuts in travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba; blocked some oil shipments to the country; and, on one of the last days of his administration, placed Cuba on the very short list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Far from lifting the sanctions, however, the Biden administration tightened them in July after Cuban authorities’ violent crackdown on rare anti-government demonstrations and the arrest of hundreds."
Reuters, which might not be paywalled.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/biden-meet-cuban-american-leaders-amid-calls-tougher-action-havana-2021-07-30/
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 8:44 AM on November 5, 2021
I am very much not a libertarian, but I found the article to be quite good, and well worth reading. The main points are that sanctions don’t achieve their stated goals, cause untold suffering, and are often motivated by domestic political goals. You don’t have to be a libertarian to see the truth in this analysis.
posted by thedamnbees at 8:11 AM on November 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by thedamnbees at 8:11 AM on November 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
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https://www.dw.com/en/sanctions-what-are-they-good-for/a-57780906
https://theconversation.com/under-what-conditions-are-international-sanctions-effective-147309
posted by StrikeTheViol at 1:42 PM on November 4, 2021 [4 favorites]