Editing Economic sanctions

[[File:Economic sanctions map by SanctionsKill.org.png|thumb|331x331px|A map of countries facing economic sanctions imposed by the United States, according to SanctionsKill.org.]]

'''Economic sanctions''' are commercial and financial penalties applied by governments against another government, group, or an individual. They are a form of warfare, similar to siege warfare.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Jacob G. Hornberger|date=2022-03-11|title=Sanctions Kill Innocent People and Also Destroy Our Liberty|url=https://www.fff.org/2022/03/11/sanctions-kill-innocent-people-and-also-destroy-our-liberty/|newspaper=The Future for Freedom Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Eva Bartlett]]|date=2020-04-14|title=SANCTIONS KILL PEOPLE|newspaper=[[Popular Resistance]], [[RT]]}}</ref> Economic sanctions are also known as embargoes. The stated purpose of sanctions is typically to apply economic pressure on a country, in order to influence the government's decision-making, and is often portrayed as a peaceful alternative to armed conflict. However, the material function of sanctions is to create widespread economic hardship, desperation, and destabilization in the targeted country, typically to pave the way for the overthrow of the government or prevent their economic development.

According to a 2021 U.S. Treasury review, 9,421 parties were sanctioned by the US government at the end of 2021, representing a 933% increase since 2000.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref>[[Ben Norton|Norton, Ben]]. [https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/04/06/west-sanctions-un-human-rights-council/ “West vs the Rest: World Opposes Sanctions, Only US & Europe Support Them - Geopolitical Economy Report.”] ''[[Geopolitical Economy Report]]'', 7 Apr. 2023, Accessed 7 Apr. 2023. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230407022331/https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/04/06/west-sanctions-un-human-rights-council/ Archived] 2023-04-07.</ref> The website of [[Sanctions Kill]] noted in 2021 that US sanctions affect a third of humanity, with more than 8,000 measures impacting more than 40 countries, and that the U.S. far exceeds any other country in the number of countries they have strangled with economic sanctions. Sanctions Kill asserts that in a period of human history when hunger and disease are scientifically solvable, depriving hundreds of millions from getting basic necessities is a crime against humanity.<ref name=":1" /> 

An essay posted on Monthly Review Online states that economic sanctions function as undeclared war by creating severe economic disruption and hyperinflation, and explains that because sanctions interfere with the functioning of essential infrastructure i.e. electrical grids, water treatment and distribution facilities, transportation hubs, and communication networks by blocking access to key industrial inputs, such as fuel, raw materials, and replacement parts, they lead to droughts, famines, disease, and abject poverty, which results in the death of millions. Exact numbers are difficult to quantify because no international tally of casualties related to economic sanctions is recorded, which obfuscates its overall fatal impact.<ref name=":3">Smith, Lauren. [https://mronline.org/2020/03/10/united-states-imposed-economic-sanctions-the-big-heist/ “United States Imposed Economic Sanctions: The Big Heist”] MR Online. March 10, 2020. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220907150816/https://mronline.org/2020/03/10/united-states-imposed-economic-sanctions-the-big-heist/ Archived] 2022-09-08.

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According to a page on the Sanctions Kill website, the countries imposing economic sanctions "are the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most industrially developed countries in the world. The intention is to choke the economies of poor, developing countries, most of which were formerly colonized. The sanctions, as well as visiting extreme hardship upon the civilian population, are intended to serve as a dire threat to surrounding countries, as they impact the economies of the whole region."<ref name=":1">W, Jim. Feb. 2, 2021. [https://sanctionskill.org/2021/02/02/sanctions-fact-sheet-39-countries/ “Sanctions Fact Sheet/over 40 Countries | Sanctions Kill.”] Sanctionskill.org. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220907145836/https://sanctionskill.org/2021/02/02/sanctions-fact-sheet-39-countries/ Archived] 2022-09-07.</ref>  

Lauren Smith notes in Monthly Review Online that it is not unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. alone that devastate a targeted country, it is the imposition of secondary sanctions upon foreign third parties that represents the final blow to its economy and people. These measures threaten to cut off foreign countries, governments, companies, financial institutions and individuals from the U.S. financial system if they engage in prohibited transactions with a sanctioned target—irrespective as to whether or not that activity impacts the United States directly.<ref name=":3" />

In times of natural disaster, [[Progressivism|progressives]] often call for temporary lifting or easing of sanctions in affected countries. However, as sanctions are a form of warfare that are generally used to purposely cause death and suffering in the targeted countries, natural disasters tend to boost the intended deadly effects of sanctions on the targeted countries' populations, as well as create a window of increased [[plausible deniability]] for the aggressor countries responsible for imposing the sanctions, the incentive to ease or remove sanctions is low.  

== Use for destabilization and overthrow of governments ==

Opposition to sanctions can be found among various ideological camps. Even critics and opponents of governments targeted by sanctions frequently point out the ineffectiveness of the sanctioning in achieving their stated goals and point out the disastrous inhumane effects of sanctions on the general population, even if these critics do not draw the conclusion that the disastrous effects are in fact the purpose of the sanctions. For example, correspondent Ryan Cooper of ''The Week'' writes of "America's brainless addiction to punitive sanctions regimes" which "virtually never achieve the desired effect and too often inflict pointless suffering on innocents" and which have not achieved "any major U.S. policy goal in this century" giving examples of U.S. sanctions on Iran, Russia, DPRK, and Venezuela all failing to achieve the goals they were said to be implemented for, and refers to U.S. sanctions on Afghanistan as "miserable and useless economic seige". The journalist goes on to describe how sanctions are often used to bolster the image of the politicians who call for and impose them:<blockquote>As Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman write in ''The New York Times'', American imperialists can't resist the temptation to use U.S. control over the dollar funding system to economically strangle perceived adversaries. Presidents use sanctions to signal they're tough by inflicting pain on "enemies" (most often innocent civilians) who are helpless to fight back from thousands of miles away. Presidents don't remove sanctions because that would be "weak," or because the Kafkaesque imperial bureaucracy only goes in one direction, or because it would be humiliating to admit error.<ref>Cooper, Ryan. 2022. [https://theweek.com/afghanistan-war/1008876/how-us-sanctions-are-driving-afghanistan-to-famine “Driving Afghanistan to Famine.”] The Week. January 12, 2022.</ref></blockquote>Nicholas Mulder, assistant professor of modern European history at Cornell University, characterized the "ratcheting problem" of sanctions which make every new implementation of sanctions less and less likely to succeed, and "defeats the entire-democratic-behavioral model of sanctions". He also explained that historically, sanctions tend to fail at changing the behavior of other states, although they may be more successful at "grinding down" an opponent's material strength:<blockquote>As tools for changing the behavior of other states, the empirical record is quite clear that they fail more often than not. As ways of grinding down opponents’ material strength they might be more successful. But we must ask at what cost. Long-term undeclared economic war oftentimes entrenches antagonism between countries instead of resolving it. The paradox of sanctions is that effective use relies on a credible promise of their removal. You must commit to lifting restrictions when your demands are met. Right now, many Western governments are stuck in a ratcheting problem where they can only ramp up economic pressure but never lift restrictions. This not only defeats the entire democratic-behavioral model for sanctions, it also makes every new sanction less and less likely to succeed.<ref>[https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/01/economic-sanctions-evolved-tool-modern-war “Economic Sanctions Evolved into Tool of Modern War.”] ''Cornell Chronicle'', 2022. Accessed 7 Apr. 2023. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220927134644/https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/01/economic-sanctions-evolved-tool-modern-war Archived] 2022-09-27.</ref></blockquote>A 2022 article published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research states that economic sanctions have become one of the main tools of US foreign policy, despite little proof of their efficacy, and widespread evidence that they often target civilian populations, with lethal and devastating effects. The article states that though sanctions are a key part of US policy-making, and a defining feature of the global economic order, sanctions, and their human costs, as well as violations of treaties to which the United States is a signatory, receive relatively little attention in most US media outlets.<ref name=":2">Galant, Michael. [https://cepr.net/cepr-sanctions-watch-may-june-2022/ “CEPR Sanctions Watch, May-June 2022”] Center for Economic and Policy Research. July 8, 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220907145545/https://cepr.net/cepr-sanctions-watch-may-june-2022/ Archived] 2022-09-07.</ref>

=== DPRK ===

DPRK is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, and has been subject to sanctions since just after its foundation. The US first imposed sanctions on north Korea during the [[Korean War]] in the 1950s. Following the country’s 2006 nuclear test, the US, EU, and others added more stringent sanctions, which have periodically intensified since. Sanctions now target oil imports, and cover most finance and trade, and the country’s key minerals sector.<ref name=":2" />

US-imposed sanctions on Russia targeting the financial, energy, and defense sectors began in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. This regime was expanded, particularly by the US, UK, and EU, in response to the 2022 conflict in [[Ukraine]], by barring most financial transactions, oil and gas imports, and other activities.<ref name=":2" />

In 2020, US President [[Donald Trump]] signed into law the [[Caesar Act]], under which Congress authorized severe economic sanctions against Syria. In accordance with the sanctions, anyone doing business with the Syrian authorities, even including transport of basic needs, such as food and medicine into the country, is potentially exposed to travel restrictions and financial sanctions.<ref name=":11">Al Mayadeen English. [https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-sends-aid-convoys-to-quake-hit-syria “Hezbollah Sends Aid Convoys to Quake-Hit Syria.”] ''Al Mayadeen English'', 8 Feb. 2023, Accessed 7 Apr. 2023. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230329054430/https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-sends-aid-convoys-to-quake-hit-syria Archived] 2023-03-29.</ref>