***UPDATED for 2022/23***
Sanctions increasingly represent the foreign policy tool of choice for governments and
international organisations seeking to address some of the world's most pressing political and
security challenges. Student participants on this course will have the opportunity to examine the design, utility and consequences of sanctions, including in the UN, EU and US contexts.
Occupying the space between war and words in the contemporary international system, we will examine their impact and effectiveness and the complex interplay between overlapping sanctions regimes. We will consider Global South perspectives on sanctions and hear from sanctions experts from Africa and Asia (TBC) while also drawing on perspectives from international law and other disciplines. We will pay close attention to the unintended consequences of sanctions, particularly from a humanitarian angle (e.g. in Syria/ Iran/ DPRK/ Venezuela/ Afghanistan) especially in light of financial sector “de-risking” and the “chilling effect” seen among humanitarian organisations and medical and food companies in light of a more complex global compliance environment. In later lectures we will explore a number of contemporary sanctions regimes in more depth, including those of Russia, Syria, Iran, Venezula and DPRK and those of a more thematic nature. Through lectures, group discussions and thematic presentations, students will gain a strong grounding in this highly topical, multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral field. Classes will be supplemented with interaction with, and lectures from, sanctions practitioners. Students will also be given the opportunity to develop skills in writing for diverse audiences in the form of a think tank style policy briefings.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand why sanctions are used in today's world and how might they be used to best effect.
2. Develop a detailed knowledge of a range of global security, foreign policy and normative challenges.
3. Learn to analyse the field of sanctions from a multidisciplinary and multisectoral perspective.
4. Hone the ability to synthesise complex information in a concise and policy-relevant manner.
5. Explore the key legal, ethical and practical considerations at play in international sanctions policy.
Professional Skills
Public speaking, analysis, interpreting data from a range of sources, concise writing style.