ABSTRACT
The United States has used sanctions as a tool for foreign policy many times over the past two hundred years. But, the use of sanctions has expanded and expectations for their success have risen in the past thirty years, particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and birth of the unipolar moment. Many different elements of the U.S. government have responsibilities for the design, implementation, and enforcement of sanctions, creating a series of overlapping authorities that are mutually-reinforcing, if highly complex. But, given the attachment to sanctions in U.S. policy-making – particularly as a means of building diplomatic leverage without the need to resort to the use of force – it is essential to understand how they are created and managed. The main challenge to sanctions in the future lies in their overuse, particularly where strategic considerations ought to prompt evaluation of other tools and in the multi-polarization of the global economy. In a different global environment than that of the post-Cold War, US sanctions policy will need to become more agile, more adaptive, and more nimble in order to remain not only a tool of interest but also a tool of value.
