Whenever the U.S. disagrees with a foreign power, calls for sanctions are heard across the nation. But what are sanctions? And are they a just method of achieving a country’s goals? According to Merriam-Webster, a sanction is “An economic or military coercive adopted usually by several nations in concert for forcing a nation violating international law to desist or yield to adjudication.” Economic sanctions have been the preferred weapon of the U.S. and international groups such as the U.N. to influence other countries’ policies. However, it is my honest opinion that using sanctions to further foreign policy objectives is unjust.
Sanctions are often used against countries that are already poor or have a weak economy, further devastating those countries. While the idea behind sanctions, that a crippled economy will weaken a leader’s power or bring about a popular revolt, is justifiable; in practice, these events hardly ever occur. The United Nations has imposed sanctions on North Korea from 2006, with no success. The ruling classes continue to live in the lap of luxury, while the ordinary citizens starve to death. In fact, they are so desperate for food, tiny, wooden fishing boats, known as ghost ships, go far out into the sea in the depths of winter to catch fish. As of 2017, over 104 ghost ships have been found, more likely undiscovered.(1) Even while the people are suffering, there seem to be few mutterings of rebellion, instead, their conditions are blamed on the United States for imposing the sanctions. Some would point to talks between President Trump and Kim Jong Un as proof of the sanctions working. However, (3), such talks have been fruitless in the past. In 2007, in a meeting held in Pyongyang, South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun became the first South Korean president to walk across the DMZ to North Korea. However, in 2008, talks soured after the new South Korean president promised a hard line on North Korea, just like our current president. Finally, in 2009 North Korea scrapped all military and political deals with the South, claiming the South had hostile intent. These talks are not enough proof to argue that sanctions work, especially in light of North Korea’s history of ending talks.
A further example, U.S. sanctions were applied to Venezuela after the government cracked down on protesters in 2014. While these were imposed in retaliation for “human rights violations”, they only worsened the plight of the Venezuelans, three-quarters of whom have lost an average of 19 pounds in the resulting food shortage. If sanctions were to work properly, this suffering should lead to more dissent against the government and its eventual overthrow. Instead, sanctions provided more legitimacy for the Venezuelan government. By receiving incentives such as food and housing for votes , poverty-stricken Venezuelans are pushed to vote for the same government that has placed them in this position.(2)
Finally, the most damning piece of evidence, the U.N. sanctions on Iraq. Prior to these sanctions, two-third’s of Iraq’s food supply came from imports. Without this supply, the price of food increased by 1000% between 1990-1995. Poverty rose, leading to a 150% increase in infant mortality and between 670,000 to 880,000 children dying. (3) However, all of this suffering had little to no political impact. Saddam Hussein remained in power, only falling after a military invasion. In fact, some U.N member countries condemned these sanctions, claiming they caused “humanitarian disaster comparable to the worst catastrophes of the past decades.” (4)
In theory, economic sanctions should be the perfect solution to a rogue foreign government. However, in practice, sanctions are not as effective as they are touted to be. Instead of weakening a government, they can increase popular support, as in places like North Korea, or, governments can use sanctions to their advantage, such as in Venezuela. Sanctions simply do not offer enough effectiveness to justify their massive costs in human lives and suffering. Economic sanctions cannot be considered a just or effective method of achieving foreign policy goals.
- Cockburn, Patrick. “It’s Time We Saw Economic Sanctions for What They Really Are – War Crimes.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 19 Jan. 2018, www.independent.co.uk/voices/economic-sanctions-north-korea-syria-hospital-supplies-a8168321.html.
- Dube, Ryan, and Anatoly Kurmanaev. “Venezuela’s Maduro, Clinging to Power, Uses Hunger as an Election Weapon.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 22 Mar. 2018, wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-maduro-clinging-to-power-uses-hunger-as-an-electoral-weapon-1521734622?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=14&ns=prod%2Faccounts-wsj.
- “The Impact Of Economic Sanctions”. Worldfinance.Com, 2018, https://www.worldfinance.com/special-reports/the-impact-of-economic-sanctions. Accessed 21 Apr 2018.
- Koppel, Naomi. “Global Policy Forum.” UN Report: Sanctions Ineffective, www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/170/41899.html.
This article was very interesting! I think that the government should use other tactics to get countries to comply.