ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by describing the American approach to sanctions, its legal underpinnings, and the practical impacts on people living in targeted countries. It discusses what the academic literature says about the effects of sanctions. Sanctions regimes that target the economy of a country usually have humanitarian exceptions. A political understanding of sanctions is the only way to make sense of their overuse in US policy, as there are two reasons not to take the instrumental case at face value. First, policymakers have shown no interest in the empirical research on this issue, unless it can be cherry-picked in order to support current practices. Second, policymakers show little interest in actually using the leverage that sanctions give them to achieve foreign policy goals. The chapter concludes by arguing that, in light of the political realities, policymakers should avoid implementing restrictions on trade and commerce that cause widespread suffering.
