How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare

Economic sanctions are often viewed as preferable to war as a way to alter the strategic decisions of actors who violate international norms. Yet as the authors of this provocative critique suggest, sanctions can often be equally devastating. Whereas “just war” theory forbids inflicting harm on noncombatants, economic sanctions are subject to no such rules or norms. Sanctions can be highly destructive by weakening national economies, undermining health systems, and limiting access to foodstuffs and essential technologies—often strengthening the hand of the very governments the sanctions seek to undermine. Iran has been under increasingly draconian U.S. sanctions for more than 40 years to little apparent effect beyond hobbling the country’s economic development and deepening popular suspicion about American values and intentions. Nonetheless, these sanctions on Iran have mushroomed to include a dizzying array of prohibitions mandated by both the U.S. Congress and the White House and to target a multitude of actors. Compounded by bureaucratic inertia, the complexity of these sanctions makes it easier to keep Iran on the enemies list than to craft policy that would actually invite or reward good behavior.