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100 Foreign Aff. 142 (2021)
The United States of Sanctions: The Use and Abuse of Economic Coercion

handle is hein.journals/fora100 and id is 1008 raw text is: The United States of Sanctions The Use and Abuse of Economic Coercion Daniel W Drezner In theory, superpowers should possess a range of foreign policy tools: military might, cultural cachet, diplomatic persuasion, technological prowess, economic aid, and so on. But to anyone paying attention to U.S. foreign policy for the past decade, it has become obvious that the United States relies on one tool above all: economic sanctions. Sanctions-measures taken by one country to disrupt economic exchange with another-have become the go-to solution for nearly every foreign policy problem. During President Barack Obama's first term, the United States designated an average of 500 entities for sanc- tions per year for reasons ranging from human rights abuses to nu- clear proliferation to violations of territorial sovereignty. That figure nearly doubled over the course of Donald Trump's presidency. Presi- dent Joe Biden, in his first few months in office, imposed new sanc- tions against Myanmar (for its coup), Nicaragua (for its crackdown), and Russia (for its hacking). He has not fundamentally altered any of the Trump administration's sanctions programs beyond lifting those against the International Criminal Court. To punish Saudi Arabia for the murder of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi, the Biden administra- tion sanctioned certain Saudi officials, and yet human rights activists wanted more. Activists have also clamored for sanctions on China for its persecution of the Uyghurs, on Hungary for its democratic back- sliding, and on Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. This reliance on economic sanctions would be natural if they were especially effective at getting other countries to do what Washington DANIEL W. DREZNER is Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. 142 FOREIGN AFFAIRS

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