• 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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• The Global Finance Regime

  

  Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.

  New Council Special Reports

  
  

  Enhancing U.S. Preventive Action

  Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.

  The United States in the New Asia

  For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.

  Complete list of Council Special Reports

  New Books

  Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.

  

  In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.

  In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.

  Complete list of CFR Books

  David Rockefeller Studies Program Contacts

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

  James M. Lindsay
  Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  +1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
  jlindsay@cfr.org

  Janine Hill
  Deputy Director of Studies Administration
  +1.212.434.9753
  jhill@cfr.org

   

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