How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare

When policymakers ask if sanctions 'work, ' it follows easily that sanctions do have substantial effects, especially those imposed by a country with the economic influence of the United States. Certainly, sanctions induce clear shockwaves in both the economy and political culture of the targeted state, and in the everyday lives of citizens. But a more clear-cut question asks if economic sanctions induce the behavioral changes that match intended foreign policy: do sanctions work in the way they should?

In How Sanctions Work, the authors make Iran, the most sanctioned country in the world, their centerpiece in studying the efficacy of international sanctions. Comprehensive sanctions are meant to induce uprisings or pressures to change the behavior of the ruling establishment, or to weaken its hold on power. But, after four decades, the case of Iran shows the opposite to be true. Sanctions have strengthened the Iranian state, impoverished its population, increased the state's repressive tendencies, and escalated Iran's military posture vis--vis the U.S. and its allies in the region. The authors argue for a more nuanced understanding of sanctions and their efficacy. It is time to understand how sanctions really work.