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• Study Group on the Utility of Economic Sanctions as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy

  Staff:	Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations

  January 1, 1997 - June 1, 1997

  Economic sanctions are an increasingly important and frequently used tood lf statecraft. Confronted with intractable situations abroad, policymakers and the public alike often view sanctions as an attractive middle option between doing nothing and intervening directly. This popularity, however, runs counter to a widespread sense in the foreign policy community that sanctions rarely accomplish much while inflicting substantial hidden costs on various constituencies. Economic globalization, technological development, and the information revolution, moreover, may be altering the degree to which, and circumstances under which, sanctions can be effective. This study group explored the utility of sanctions, looking at the mahor post-Cold War experiences of sanctions through a comparative analysis to derive lessons from recent history for current and future policy. The resulting publication was Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy (1998), edited by Richard N. Haass.

  
  

   

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  Publications

  

  June 1998

  Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy

  Author:	Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations

  “Sanctions don’t work” is an often-heard refrain. The reality, though, is more complex. Sanctions—mostly economic but also political and military penalties aimed at states or other entities to alter political and/or military behavior—almost always have consequences, sometimes desirable, at other times unwanted and unexpected.

   

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  Meetings

  Conclusions and Recommendations

  Study Group Meeting

  
  June 24, 1997

  Related Project: Study Group on the Utility of Economic Sanctions as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy

  Presider:	Richard N. Haass

   

  Cuba and Haiti

  Study Group Meeting

  
  April 29, 1997

  Related Project: Study Group on the Utility of Economic Sanctions as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy

  Presider:	Richard N. Haass
  Speakers:	Susan Kaufman Purcell, Council of the Americas
  	Gideon Rose, Council on Foreign Relations

   

  China and Pakistan

  Study Group Meeting

  
  March 18, 1997

  Related Project: Study Group on the Utility of Economic Sanctions as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy

  Presider:	Richard N. Haass
  Speakers:	Dennis Kux, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
  	Robert S. Ross, Boston College

   

  Libya and Bosnia

  Study Group Meeting

  
  February 18, 1997

  Related Project: Study Group on the Utility of Economic Sanctions as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy

  Presider:	Richard N. Haass
  Speakers:	Stephen J. Stedman, Stanford University
  	Gideon Rose

   

  Iraq and Iran

  Study Group Meeting

  
  January 16, 1997

  Related Project: Study Group on the Utility of Economic Sanctions as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy

  Presider:	Richard N. Haass
  Speakers:	Gideon Rose, Council on Foreign Relations
  	Patrick Clawson, National Defense University

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  Complete list of Council Special Reports.

  

  

  David Rockefeller Studies Program Contacts

  For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:

  Gary Samore
  Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  +1-212-434-9627
  gsamore@cfr.org

  Sebastian Mallaby
  Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics
  smallaby@cfr.org

  Janine Hill
  Deputy Director of Studies Administration
  +1-212-434-9753
  jhill@cfr.org

   

  

  

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