Kara McDonald argues, "one of the strongest multilateral sanctions architectures ever created already exists to pressure North Korea; it just needs to be enforced."

Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland write that sanctions alone are not enough to force North Korea to relinquish its nuclear weapons, but that the United States and other countries can make an impact if they pursue North Korea's international financial intermediaries, such as China.

Financial sanctions have become a key tool of U.S. foreign policy. Measures taken against Iran and North Korea make clear that this new financial statecraft can be effective, but true success will require persuading global banks to accept a shared sense of risk.

President-elect Barack Obama has expressed willingness to have direct talks with Cuba, the latest step in what experts still view as a long road toward normalizing U.S.-Cuban relations.

Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation, discusses Russian geoeconomic relations in a CFR meeting.

Fidel Castro—thorn in the side of the U.S. government, icon for many of the impoverished of Latin America—has resigned, leaving Cuba’s immediate fate in the hands of his brother Raul.

Rachel Loeffler writes that "financial sanctions, not appeasement or confrontation, are taking a toll. Now is the time to ratchet up the pressure."

Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran political analyst, says the sanctions imposed by Washington on Iran this week are unlikely to have much of a financial impact on Tehran.

Following a turbulent week of rhetoric over Iran, the UN Security Council agreed to delay action on further sanctions until November.

Simon Cox of the Economist and Jake Colvin of the National Foreign Trade Council debate the merits and drawbacks of economic sanctions.

This policy paper from Michael Jacobson, a senior fellow in The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence, and Policy, argues that the Bush administration should use Congressional pressure to employ tougher economic sanctions against Iranas leverage in its efforts to forge effective international cooperation on Iran.

Abbas Bolurfrushan, the former president of the Iranian Business Council in Dubai, discusses the Iranian economy and the effects of sanctions on Iranian businesses.

This U.S. Department of the Treasury states, "As part of its enforcement efforts, OFAC publishes a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific. Collectively, such individuals and companies are called "Specially Designated Nationals" or "SDNs." Their assets are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them."