SHOULD ALL TRADE SANCTIONS BE STOPPED?
To most of the world, sanctions are a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they reinforce trade rules and promote respect for them. On the other hand, they tend to undermine the principles of free trade and provoke a kind of ‘trade envy’(Charnovitz) in other international organizations.
Trade retaliation goes back quite a ways; we see examples of it in much of US law:
-Antidumping Act of 1916, which has seen little use.(Charnovitz)
-International Labor Organization, from the Treaty of Versailles 1919, which served as an international dispute system, but no economic measures were ever recommended until 2000, against Burma.(Charnovitz)
-UN
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World leaders often decide that the most obvious alternatives to sanctions are no good – military action would be too strong and diplomatic protests too weak. Sanctions can provide a satisfying dramatic display, but avoid the high costs of war.(Library of Economics) This isn’t to say that sanctions don’t cost a thing, just that they’re often less costly than the alternatives.
A second advantage to sanctions can be seen through foreign pressure to promote internal change, assuming that the sanctioned government wants to comply with the rules, but can’t because of domestic politics.(Charnovitz) We can see in many cases that sanctions are being imposed primarily for signaling purposes – either for the benefit of allies, other third parties, or once again, their own citizens. If the sanctions aren’t carefully targeted or the costs are too high for the sanctioning country, the intended signal may be lost.(Library of Economics)
Sanctions intended to change the behavior or government of a target country are very difficult to design. They have to be imposed as quickly and easily as possible.(Library of Economics) By moving too slowly, it gives the target country time to adjust by finding alternative markets, finding new allies, and by gaining domestic support of its own policies.
Another advantage of trade sanctions is the fact that they have the power to be enacted
If a country is cooperative, the promise of rewards will help to achieve the dominate countries goals. For countries to refuse to cooperate, the easiest way for the superior country to achieve desired results is to impose sanctions on the country. Economic sanctions can be disastrous for a country that’s economy is export driven and are relatively low risk for the imposing nation. Cuba is an example of world powers imposing their will on a county of lesser means in such a way.
There is no doubt that increasing in international trade is supporting the economic growth across the world, raising incomes and creating jobs. However, international trade can also some create economic obstacles, such as the international context and the market policy and regulations of each country, and consequently it can be said that the effects would have positive and negative sides, and it is useful to mention all of them and to take them into consideration.
There are many countries that the United States frequently traded with who are now under a set of economic sanctions today. The sanctions were designed to restrict a country to the resources of their country and their allies until they comply with specific request. The US-Cuban sanctions were suppose was supposed to be in place until democracy and human rights were restored in Cuba. One effect of the sanction resulted in Cuban citizens only being able to purchase vehicles made before 1958. Although this is a minor effect of sanction, can you imagine if you were only able to possess a microwave that was made before 1958?
Embargos are rarely ever explained to the normal citizen and when the explanation of the embargo comes down from the country leadership it is more than likely propaganda that says, “the United Nations is out to steel our land”. When the leadership of the most powerful countries are about to create an embargo on they should be force to explain to the poor farmer or worker that is barely able to make a buck. This might be enough to give pause on the harm you are causing the country that is about to get
As economic hegemony and political and military superpower following WWII, the United States attempted to impose its will on many countries through the use of economic sanctions. There are many motivation prompting the use of sanction. First, it can be a proportional response to a challenge where the interests at stake are judged to be less than vital. Second, sanctions are a form of expression, to communicate official displeasure with a certain behavior or action . American reluctance to use military force is another motivation, especially in those instances where U.S. interests are not deemed sufficiently important to justify casualties and high financial costs. Third, the growth of congressional power helps explain the prevalence of economic
political system has influenced all of the trade embargo sanctions and alleviations over the last 50 years. The WTO is requesting the U.S. ease up on the trade embargo because it is hurting the Cuban economy and people. There are supporters in the U.S House of Representatives and Senate that are calling for the embargo to stay resilient, while others want the trade restrictions removed. Corporations are wanting to trade with Cuba for increased profits. The United Nations voted against the U.S. embargo with a vote of 188 to 3 against (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2015, p.253). By repealing the embargo the U.S. would benefit from the trade and Cuba would be able to stabilize their economy which would result in more trade and less humanitarian relief. However to lift the embargo I am afraid that the Cuban government would not change and the profits and import of goods would benefit the government regime only and not the
Trade embargos have tremendous consequences for countries that are being embargoed. The embargos not only affect the country that are being embargoed, but the effect bleed over the borders to the surrounding countries. The list of countries that have been sanctioned by the United Nations included Russia, North Cyprus, and Cuba. United Nations sanctions that target countries affect the economy, the morale, and encourages criminal activities to obtain goods.
Vladimir Putin certainly does need to do something to look like he is at least working to lift the sanctions. Even though the Russian people and industry are adapting to the life under the sanctions, it does not mean they are happy living under the sanctions. It seems possible that the sanctions will increase discontent with the Russian people if Putin is not trying to get the sanctions lifted. Even though Putin needs to, try to get the sanctions lifted they still may be helping him Putin stay in power. Much of Putin’s rhetoric invokes Russian nostalgia to the time of the USSR when the Soviet Union was a global power. He can easily use spin the sanctions into an issue of the United States continuing to be worried about Russia’s rising global
sanctions, such as the withholding of funds (Nye, 12). Arguably, the most severe hard power and
However, the sanctions placed on Iran were placed there for a reason and that reason was because of “Iran’s continued illicit nuclear activities” (U.S. State Department) These economic sanctions were placed to hinder the attempt of Iran to build a nuclear bomb and now we are throwing away those sanctions that were in place to protect us.
Largely, the use of economic instrument of power encourage countries to comply with U.S. foreign policy. I would argue that as long as the U.S.'s foreign policy is of moral merit and consistence with its national values, it is preferable to use economic sanctions to promote the foreign policy of other nations like Iran leaders who refused to come to solve the problem in a peaceful manner. In contrary, compromising the sanctions in the name of morality will be a dangerous business for the security of the world as a whole and for the security of the U.S and its allies and partners in the Middle East and Europe in particular. Hence, I would say that the sanction made by the U.S was the right instrument utilized to shape the behavior of Iranian
From the reasons behind the voices asking for lifting the embargo on Cuba is its Economic impacts on the U.S. economy. Some politician’s opinion is that beside the failure of the embargo in achieving democracy in Cuba and removing Castro regime, the embargo harms the U.S. economy as well. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the embargo, stating that the U.S. policies impose real costs, and according to a study by Taxes A&M University in 2010, removing restrictions on the agricultural products exported to Cuba and lifting travel ban would increase the U.S. exports by $365 million and create 6000 new jobs in the United States. Also, some experts believe that lifting the embargo would benefit agriculture, telecommunications, tourism, and construction sectors.
The international community has been conferring a great deal of disapproval upon the embargoes, and likewise many Americans also believe that the embargoes are a human rights violation as it deprives Cuba of vital goods. Steven David’s theory of omni-balancing is somewhat sensible in this argument, for it states that a state has to take into consideration both international and domestic pressure to craft its international relations policy. In this case, the international community has been calling for the lifting of the Cuban embargoes for decades, and American opinion has similarly been shifting in favor of it. Therefore it makes sense for the US to nominalize relations with
Targeted sanctions are by no means a perfect method for persuading a change of behavior. Sanctions bring with them collateral damage, including trade deficits and project partnerships with the target. Legal difficulties are another aspect which can slow the process of persuading a target to change their actions, thus adding to the collateral damage. Targeted sanctions should have very little collateral damage in terms of harm to civilians, and finding ways to deal with collateral damage should include some sort of humanitarian relief efforts for civilians in the targeted country. Under European Union law every action, including sanctions against a target, must follow legal protocol defined in the Treaties. These legal difficulties within the
Without a sanction, many negotiations would not occur, and a mutual interest would never be discovered. The beauty of an economic sanction, is the fear is instills on the nation or party it may potentially be imposed on. Having a sanction imposed on a nation is extremely detrimental on the nation’s economy and damages trade relations with fellow nations. Many times, when a sanction is imposed, it is done by a group of nations as opposed to just an individual nation (ex. European Union, United Nations etc.), this allows for a nation to be ostracized, which is shameful in itself. Not only do economic sanctions urge political elites to implement change and to negotiate with whomever is imposing the sanction, but they also help maintain peace overall, which is the greatest common