Are Sanctions Meant to Work? The Politics of Creating and Implementing Sanctions Through the United Nations
Global Governance, Vol. 9, pp. 503-518, 2003
14 Pages Posted: 14 Apr 2008
Abstract
Do sanctions work? The jury remains out on this question, but two preliminary issues bear further examination also. What are sanctions intended to achieve? And do states actually want sanctions to work? These essentially political questions depend on two discrete dynamics that are the subject of this article, which focuses on sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. The first is the political context of the Council and how the intentions of key actors are channelled into sanctions regimes. The second is the political economy in which those sanctions operate. Through a survey of UN practice over the past decade the two areas are examined in turn, followed by an examination of how to advance debate both inside and outside the United Nations.
Keywords: sanctions, United Nations
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation