Economic sanctions have been imposed on dozens of countries and thousands of individuals, triggering humanitarian crises and creating economic chaos, often with little accountability. Sanctions can cause particular harm to vulnerable populations, including women, children, migrants, and the poor. Economic Sanctions from Havana to Baghdad: Legitimacy, Accountability, and Humanitarian Consequences addresses a range of issues in the design and implementation of the economic sanctions regimes that emerged in the post-Cold War era. Drawing on cases from Syria, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, and elsewhere, the chapters in this volume explore issues such as the gendered effects of sanctions; how migrants are affected; risk assessment practices by international businesses; how sanctions affect private actors such as banks; and the effects of sanctions on economic development, infrastructure, and access to health care. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

‘Joy Gordon has put together an outstanding new volume on economic sanctions. With contributors coming from a diverse array of national contexts, methodological orientations, and theoretical backgrounds, this book provides a trenchant critical analysis of the potential and pitfalls of economic sanctions. For anyone interested in international ethics, the focus on questions of legitimacy and accountability will provide new insights for scholars and students alike. A must-read in a world where sanctions are sometimes seen as the more ‘humanitarian’ option, when they may in fact lead to devastating consequences.’

Anthony F. Lang, Jr - Professor of International Political Theory, School of International Relations, University of St Andrews

‘Like no other volume, this collection mobilizes Joy Gordon's piercing legal and ethical analysis of the devastating human consequences of sanctions as a framework for twenty diverse essays. Sanctioned-country studies, thematic chapters employing quantitative analysis, ethical perspectives, and legal principles are tightly interwoven to address sanctions impacts. Uniquely, the volume also includes private-sector, banking, and financial analyses alongside civil society, food security, and gendered perspectives on sanctions.’

George A. Lopez - Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC, Professor of Peace Studies, Emeritus, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

‘This timely and trenchant collection offers a much needed counterpoint to the conventional literature on sanctions policy, taking into account humanitarian costs and questions of accountability that are often overlooked. The authors lay bare the legal ambiguities, humanitarian tolls, and accountability gaps in existing sanctions frameworks. With precision and moral clarity, the first half addresses issues of causality while documenting the real-world toll of sanctions in some of the most vulnerable settings - offering case studies that are as sobering as they are necessary. The second half turns a critical lens on the legal and normative architecture of unilateral sanctions, exposing the institutional evasions that allow powerful states to punish in the name of law while sidestepping considerations of procedural rights and accountability. Together, these chapters form a compelling indictment of a regime of economic coercion too often shielded from scrutiny, and too rarely held to account.’

Aslı Ü. Bâli - Howard M. Holtzmann Professor of Law, Yale Law School

‘Sanctions have long been an integral part of the foreign policy arsenal of states, and particularly of the United States, the European Union, and their allies. Today they are imposed promiscuously for all sorts of reasons. The problem is that in many cases their legitimacy is dubious, their legality highly questionable, and their effectiveness extremely low. Through a wide range of excellent case studies, this book makes a compelling case for rethinking their use and for exploring alternative approaches. This is an indispensable resource for a debate that urgently needs to be had.’

Philip G. Alston - John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, New York University School of Law

‘This is an important and novel collection of essays about economic sanctions worldwide. It challenges the idea that the comprehensive sanctions regimes of the 1990s have been replaced by smarter targeted regimes which avoid adverse collateral impact. Each chapter examines with an admirable combination of detail and clarity the complexity of modern sanctions regimes and asks key challenging questions about their humanitarian impact, legal legitimacy, and the minefield that is their practical application.’

Maya Lester KC - Barrister at Brick Court Chambers

‘A unique international survey of the actual effects of sanctions on the ground, this volume sheds vital light on the adverse political and human development outcomes of economic coercion. An urgent book for everyone interested in how sanctions shape our world.’

Nicholas J. T. Mulder - Department of History, Cornell University, author, The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War