The widespread use of economic sanctions constitutes one of the great paradoxes of contemporary American foreign policy. While often derided as ineffective, sanctions are fast becoming the policy tool of choice for the United States in the post-Cold War world. A new Council on Foreign Relations book, Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy, edited by Richard N. Haass, explores the growing importance of economic sanctions as a tool of American foreign policy. In addition, the book suggests reforms so that Congress and the Executive Branch can make better decisions about sanctions and implement them more effectively.

This book could not be more timely. The United States now maintains economic sanctions against literally dozens of countries. No other country uses economic sanctions as frequently -- and no other country possesses America's power and influence. Indeed, what is critical is not just the frequency with which economic sanctions are used but their importance.

Some principal lessons set forth in the book are:

-- Although sanctions can at times help to achieve modest or even fairly significant foreign policy goals, sanctions alone are unlikely to succeed if the aims are large or if time is short.

-- Unilateral sanctions are rarely effective. They tend to impose a greater cost on American firms than on the target, which can usually find substitute sources of financing.

-- Sanctions can be blunt, often producing unintended and undesirable consequences.

-- Sanctions can be expensive for American business, farmers, and workers.

-- Authoritarian societies are often able to hunker down and withstand the effects of sanctions.

-- Sanctions fatigue tends to settle in and international compliance tends to diminish over time.

The book also puts forward a number of recommendations for U.S. foreign policy, including:

-- Economic sanctions are a serious instrument of foreign policy. They should be employed only after consideration no less rigorous than what would precede any other form of intervention, including the use of military force.

-- Multilateral support for economic sanctions normally should constitute a prerequisite for their introduction by the United States.

-- Secondary sanctions or boycotts are not a desirable means of bringing about multilateral support for sanctions and should be avoided.

-- Sanctions should not be used to hold major or complex bilateral relationships hostage to a single issue or set of concerns.

-- Humanitarian exceptions should be included as part of any comprehensive sanctions. 

-- Policymakers should prepare and send to Congress a policy statement (not unlike the reports prepared and forwarded under the War Powers Act) before or soon after a sanction is put into place. In addition, any sanction should be the subject to an annual impact statement.

-- All sanctions embedded in legislation should provide for presidential waivers.

-- The federal government should challenge the right of states and municipalities to institute economic sanctions against companies and individuals operating in the their jurisdiction
 

Case studies are: China (Robert S. Ross, Harvard University and Boston College); Cuba (Susan
Kaufman Purcell, Americas Society); Haiti (Gideon Rose, Council on Foreign Relations); Iran
(Patrick Clawson, Washington Institute on Near East Policy); Iraq (Eric D.K., Melby, Forum for
International Policy); Libya (Gideon Rose); Pakistan (Dennis Kux, Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars); the former Yugoslavia (Stephen John Stedman, Stanford
University). 

"Neither a broadside against nor an apologia for the use of economic sanctions, this thoughtful study calls for their selective use based on rigorous analysis of their expected costs and benefits in comparison with alternative courses of action. It should be of interest to students, scholars, and policymakers alike."

"Economic sanctions rarely work as intended, but they always have consequences. In Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy, Richard Haass, one of this country's leading foreign policy experts, explains what needs to be done to regain control of this commonly used but often abused foreign policy tool. Members of Congress, as well as those serving in state legislatures and the executive branch, should read this book." ABOUT THE EDITOR:  Dr. Richard Haass is Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Previously, he was Director of National Security Programs and a Senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.  From 1989-1993 he was Special Assistant to President George Bush and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council.  He is the author of numerous books, including The Reluctant Sheriff: The United States after the Cold War.

Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy (ISBN 0-87609-212-1, $17.95) is published by the Council on Foreign Relations Press and distributed by the Brookings Institution Press. To order call (800) 275-1447, or international and D.C. callers should dial (202) 797-6258. To order via the internet, info@brooks.edu 

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