Sanctions Regime Research Articles

Iraq's alternatives in light of the challenges surrounding the security of the Arabian Gulf: the challenges of security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz

The Arab Gulf region in particular, and with it the entire Arab region in general, is witnessing multiple challenges and conflicts, escalating, in a way that reflects the presence of overlapping in the dimensions: internal, regional and international, which imposes important effects on Iraq.
 Iraq is part of the Arab Gulf region, and it interferes with it: historically, geographically, ethnically, and politically. It cannot be overlooked that Iraq was in historical stages that was considered the dominant force in this region, especially in the stage of the civilization’s dominance before the role of Iraq and its place in civilization declines.
 Today, the region is witnessing multiple challenges, which began with the escalation of regional sectarian political events associated with the event of the occupation of Iraq, with a tendency to disturb the regional balance due to the dismantling of the capabilities of Iraq, and the matter came to the loosening of regional conflicts due to what the region is going through, and the perspective of the active forces in it, which has overcome the perspective The struggle for cooperation.
 The entry or presence of the international worker in the regional conflicts in the Arab Gulf region caused the intensity of the conflicts to multiply instead of settling them, and Iran has presented on more than one occasion that it has the capabilities to implement the option of closing the Strait of Hormuz or impeding the freedom and safety of maritime navigation in international waters in the Arabian Gulf, And the matter was not related to the US sanctions regime on Iran in the year 2018 and beyond, but it is before it.
 
 
 The Iranian threat to close the Strait of Hormuz at the very least, or any development in the regional conflict in the region, can damage the interests of Iraq and its security, for two reasons: First, most of Iraq’s trade passes through the waters of the Persian Gulf, and the second is that there is an overlap between Iraq and peoples and countries The region, and just as sectarianism moved from Iraq to the region after 2003, the Gulf conflict and tension can move into Iraq or affect Iraq’s policy.
 Iraq should search for political alternatives that help it in dealing with the developments of the conflict in the Arab Gulf region. Perhaps this research presents some of the options and alternatives that can help the Iraqi decision-maker, if there is an important development in the Gulf-Western conflict with Iran

Why the implementation of multilateral sanctions does (not) work: lessons learned from the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT Despite the intensity of research into UN multilateral sanctions, the implementation of sanctions in states with no autonomous sanctions policy has been almost neglected. This sharply contrasts with the fact that their noncompliance may hinder the efficiency and effectiveness of sanctions significantly. To demonstrate the possible contributions of these states to sanctions regimes and the risks resulting from their noncompliance, the article presents the outcomes of a single case study on the implementation of UN sanctions in the Czech Republic from the 1990s to the present. This is a period when the country changed implementation methods several times. Thus, lessons learned from the Czech experience provide a valuable contribution to best practices of sanctions implementation. While distinguishing between formal and behavioural compliance, the text identifies key drivers of the desirable speed and accuracy of the implementation process. In addition to recommendations stated in the reform processes, the text also suggests that the main domestic sanctions authority’s experience with creation and implementation of national law, and a flexible coordination mechanism have been important for the efficient application of UN sanctions.

Human rights in the fight against terrorism: Sanctions regimes of the United Nations Security Council

In the last decade, the growing num­ber of acts of terrorism that threaten world peace and security, as well as the funda­mental values in every democratic socie­ty, in particular respect for fundamental human rights, have called for more active action by the international community in the struggle with terrorism. In this regard, the United Nations Security Council adopted a number of resolutions establish­ing sanctions regimes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (IDES), Al-Qai­da and the Taliban, and other individuals, groups, and related entities and suspected terrorist suspects. Despite the social pur­pose of these regimes, they created se­rious preconditions for violations of the human rights of the affected subjects, in particular the right to a fair trial, the right to an effective remedy, the right to prop­erty, the right of the persons concerned to be informed of the charges against them, the right to be heard and other procedur­al rights. This circumstance calls for re­forms to be made to the arrangements in place to ensure fundamental human rights in the fight against terrorism.

The Humanitarian Gap in the Global Sanctions Regime

Abstract Since the late 1990s, targeted sanctions and general humanitarian sanctions exemptions have aimed at avoiding the disastrous humanitarian consequences of comprehensive sanctions. In parallel, global banks in charge of administering the international trade of vital goods (food and medicine) have received guidance on how to implement risk-based approaches to avoid completely blockading sanctioned jurisdictions. But these efforts have failed. This article asks: Why has the governance of sanctions and sanctions exemption failed, and what can be done to fix the problem? It argues that a hybrid form of governance in the field of sanctions is responsible for current humanitarian problems. Based on more than eighty interviews with treasury officials, sanctions experts, compliance officers, and others, and taking the international trade of vital goods in Iran as an example, this article assesses various fixes to the governance failures and solutions to address the payment problems that exporters of vital goods in sanctioned jurisdictions face.

Внешнеэкономические связи Ленинградской области и Швеции в первое двадцатилетие XXI века: проблемы и перспективы

The North-West of Russia has close ties with the countries of the Baltic region for many years. This article discusses the economic interaction of the Leningrad region with the Swedish regions in the last two decades. The authors attempt to give a detailed analysis of the cooperation of this Russian region with Sweden in order to establish the significance of these relations for Ingermanland and Russia. To achieve this goal, the authors consider the agreements of districts and cities of the region with the Swedish partners, as well as their implementation on the example of specific cases of Swedish companies in the region. Particular attention is paid to the recent years of interaction between the Leningrad region and Sweden, the impact of the sanctions regime on them. As a result of the research, the institute of twin cities was found to be of great importance for certain regions of the region in their economic interaction with the Swedish kingdom (Gatchina and Tikhvin) and the potential for development in this area for others (Volkhov and Vyborg). The contradictory role of sanctions in the region’s foreign economic relations with Sweden is emphasized, as a result of which there was no serious drop in trade turnover and investment volumes, and Sweden became a more valuable foreign partner of the Leningrad region.

Individual or Enterprise Liability? The Roles of Sanctions and Liability Under Contractible and Non-contractible Safety Efforts

AbstractThis paper analyzes the social effectiveness of fines (sanctions) and awards (liability) where accident risks are influenced by decisions made by both the enterprise and the employees of the enterprise (individuals). The regulator observes a proportion of accidents and the safety decision of the individual can be contractible or non-contractible for the enterprise. All sanction regimes yield the first best, given contractible individual care. The liability regimes, however, produce sub-optimal solutions. Given non-contractible individual care, the combined use of an individual sanction and an enterprise sanction (joint use) produces the first best. The exclusive use of an individual sanction produces the first best if the enterprise does not suffer any direct harm. The exclusive use of an enterprise sanction does not, however, produce the first best. If both decision-makers are solvent and have similar liability probabilities, then individual and enterprise liability do equally well under contractible individual care. Individual liability does, however, best for non-contractible individual care.

Diplomats, Domestic Agency and the Implementation of Sanctions: The MFAs of France and Germany in the Age of Geoeconomic Diplomacy

Summary Tasked with the implementation of complex geoeconomic instruments such as trade and investment regulations, targeted economic assistance and sanctions regimes, European ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs) are increasingly exposed to a field introduced as geoeconomic diplomacy. This article argues that traditional literature on states’ strategic use of economic power has underestimated how MFAs of liberal and tightly integrated market economies are challenged in their abilities to realise geoeconomic objectives. Mitigating such challenges requires diplomats to engage extensively with multiple domestic state and non-state actors relevant to the state-market nexus. Through a comparative case study of France and Germany, the article demonstrates how major European MFAs have recently streamlined their organisational approaches to the geoeconomic field in various ways, and analyses how French and German diplomats were bound to manage multifaceted, yet different, domestic agency relations in their quests to successfully implement the European Union’s sanctions regime against Russia in 2014-2016.

Western Economic Sanctions against Russia: an Opportunity for Closer Eurasian Integration?

The policy implemented by the Russian Federation over the past five years has been significantly independent from the contemporary world order’s approach, which led to Russia being relatively isolated from the international community. This situation of isolation is primarily reflected by the sanction regime that is now implemented against Russia.Given that the United States of America (US) and the European Union (EU) represent the world’s most powerful entities in terms of economy and often have the greatest influence on solving international issues, this article analyzes the economic sanctions they have implemented against Russia.

How to Make International Sanctions on North Korea Effective Cooperation or Coercion?

This paper aims to review the theoretical discussions on economic sanctions against North Korea and come up with policy prescriptions based on this theoretical analysis. It bears mentioning in advance that this paper does not look to a rgue the e ffectivenes s of sanctions in changing North Korea s strategic calculations. Given Washington s strong belief that sanctions can change North Korea s decisions, how to effectively design and implement sanctions is fundamentally important. This paper will provide a theoretical review of why achieving that goal has proven to be difficult. At the same time, the paper will address the popular observation that the current sanctions regime i s different f rom the pas t-s ince i t evoked a different approach f rom North Korea in 2018-and discuss why it is different.

Contesting from the Screen: A Review of Ken Loach's Film 'I, Daniel Blake'

Ken Loach’s award-winning movie “I, Daniel Blake” has been in the centre of the political debate in the United Kingdom. The film depicts the hardships a joiner and a single mother must endure when facing the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the benefits system and its draconian sanctions regime. This paper explores the movie and its placement in Loach’s filmography and posits that it is a strong text mastery presented in the form of art to contest austerity Britain. The most relevant aspects of the film are highlighted (beware of the spoilers), Loach’s work is contextualised and the movie´s main topics are read in the bigger picture, as discussed by the work on austerity of some of the leading scholars from the fields of politics, sociology and economics. Ultimately, the paper proposes to read the film as a call for citizens’ rights over the outcomes of market.

Sanction Regime of The UN Security Council under International law

Sanction Regime of The UN Security Council under International law

Theoretical approaches to studying economic sanctions

At this stage in the development of the global economic space, the question of studying such measures of influence as sanctions is of great interest. The article is a review of approaches to studying the phenomenon of economic sanctions and is aimed at studying the definition, varieties and essence of these measures. The article considers various interpretations of the concept of “sanction” in the scientific literature. The author has developed a morphological matrix of existing types of sanctions, matrix can be used for the analysis of the implemented measures. The author also studied and presented some of the main ideas of scientists in the field of economic sanctions, their effectiveness, influence on the structure of an economic system and cross-border relationship.Further research on this topic will contribute to the development of an effective strategy for business entities in the context of sanctions regimes.

Can the United States and Russia reach strategic equilibrium without conflict?

The contemporary U.S.-Russian relationship is often characterized as a return to the worst tensions of the Cold War, with the accompanying prospect of global nuclear conflict. Yet although the danger of conflict is real, changes to the strategic environment call into question the wisdom of U.S. Cold War-era containment strategies. U.S. strategy toward Russia must account for a rising China, increased asymmetry between U.S. and Russia in both capabilities and demographic potential, and increased Russian reliance on China and the EU for economic viability. In this light, the U.S. should reevaluate vital interests within countries bordering Russia, and carefully craft a sustainable long-term sanctions regime which is likely to moderate–rather than exacerbate–Russia’s assertive foreign policy.

EU Human Rights Sanctions Regime: Ambitions, Reality and Risks

After extensive preparatory work, the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy put forward a Joint Proposal for an ‘EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime’ (EU HRSR) to address serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide. This paper starts from the position that setting up an EU HRSR serves a noble objective and could be a desirable tool to flexibly confront with consequences those who commit serious human rights violations. Yet, it would crucially need to comply with human rights itself. This is not a small feat to accomplish. Much hinges on the listing and delisting criteria, the required evidentiary standard, and the information on which the listing decisions are based. Based on a detailed analysis of the Court of Justice's sanctions case law, the paper sets out the requirements with which the EU HRSR would have to comply. Finally, the political choice of adopting a horizontal EU HRSR should be made in full awareness that this is an attempt to decouple the protection of human rights from specific (political) conflicts. This decoupling directly charges the concept of human rights that is traditionally portrayed as ‘neutral’ with sovereign politics.

EU Human Rights Sanctions Regime: Ambitions, Reality and Risks

EU Human Rights Sanctions Regime: Ambitions, Reality and Risks

Effectiveness Assessment of the UNSC-Resolution-Based Sanctions Regimes

Effectiveness Assessment of the UNSC-Resolution-Based Sanctions Regimes

A Brief Discussion on the United States’ Sanctions Program and Venezuela

States interact with other states in a myriad of ways. One such way is by the issuance of economic sanctions intended to impact another state's policies or practices. Economic sanctions are an “old tool,” which historically have been grounded on the issuing state's own overarching goals and policies. However, economic sanctions are becoming more and more a means of exerting political influence over another state. One can question whether this is in fact “using an old tool in a new way.” I would suggest this practice, when implemented in particular ways, can complicate the “new economic world order” in such a way as to create perverse incentives within a state's own sanctions regime.

COVID-19 and the policy of sanctions: An event analysis

The article aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool. The following research questions are posed: in what way did COVID-19 affect the policy of sanctions around the world? To what extant did the initiators of sanctions change their restrictions? Where did COVID-19 rank on the global sanctions agenda? What was the position of the UN as a key institution of global governance and what was the reaction of the key countries that initiated the sanctions? The main hypothesis is that COVID-19 has not significantly altered the existing sanctions regime. No single initiator-state has changed its sanctions regime in principle, but states have made a number of humanitarian exemptions. However, these exemptions are limited and sanctions have continued to be imposed as usual. In some areas, COVID-19 has even exacerbated international tensions and raised the risks of sanctions, especially in U. S.—China relations. The hypothesis was tested using the event analysis method of sanctions episodes during the pandemic (March-June 2020). The research provides an analysis of quantity and quality of events and their distribution among initiators. Emphasis is placed on the study of events connected to COVID-19. The results reveal a limited impact of COVID-19 on sanctions policy and highlight the weakness of the UN to affect the behavior of key sanctions initiators even in conditions of a global threat such as COVID-19.

COUNTERACTION OF IRAN AND RUSSIA TO ECONOMIC SANCTIONS: SIMILARITY AND DISTINCTION OF STRATEGY

The article attempts to conduct a comparative analysis of strategy of counteraction for Iran and Russia to economic sanctions as modern foreign policy means of compulsion are undertaken. The author starts with the unacceptability and illegitimacy of the sanction regimes established by the USA and their satellites without the decision of the Security Council of the United Nations. It is underlined that sanctions are directed on restricting or influencing the sovereignty and sovereign political policy by means of measures of economic character, destabilization of the political sys- tem and a change of a state’s political policy, a political mode. In formation of a modern Russian policy to counter the pressure of sanctions it is possible and it is necessary to consider not only domestic experience, but also the practices of other states, in particular Iran which has been under the influence of sanctions for several decades. As a strategy of countering economic sanc- tions, Iran invokes the methods of economic mobilization to diversify export and import, external relations of the state, search for new partners and its features of state activity in organizing import substitution are of interest. Recognizing the prospect of preservation and the essential damage done by economic sanctions, the article concludes with the necessity to diversify external rela- tions of the state. Priorities in the policy of countering sanctions are also identified: international trade development, creation of alternative financial systems of calculations, import substitution, creation of an effective and developed economy that has a high level of stability.

Legal substantiation of retaliatory measures of the Russian Federation to economic sanctions of the United States, European Union, and their allies

The authors examine the economic sanctions introduced nu the U.S., EU and their allies against the Russian Federation, as well as the legal mechanism of retaliatory measures taken by Russia on the nationwide scale. The changes in the international legal regulation derailed the vector of global development, which was bringing real freedom of economic activity. Establishment of the sanction regime by the aforementioned parties signifies a struggle for own influence, weakening of the positive trade and economic ties, as well as an attempt to institute a regime of protectionism within the international trade turnover exclusively for their own benefit. Based on the analysis of the normative-legal documents, an assessment is made on the legal legitimacy of the introduced discriminatory measures of the allies from the perspective of the norms of international law. This article presents the analysis of the positions of federal laws and other legislative bills of the Russian Federation, establishing gradual constraining countermeasures for foreign subjects in various spheres of activity. The authors substantiate the fact that introduction of retaliatory economic sanctions by the Russian Federation with regards to the United States, European Union, and their allies is directly related to the implementation of the principle of reciprocity, currently existing within private international law. It is noted that all these actions on protection from illegitimate sanctions are realized by Russia practically without participation of UN, WTO and other reputable international organizations in regulation of the “sanctions” issue. The extraterritorial measures introduced by the United States and the European Union justifies the movement of Russian into a new stage of evolution of legal regulation of the foreign economic activity, and in foreign trade – establishment of new markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.