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182. Sanctions, a privileged instrument of European Foreign Policy
- Author:
- Ramona Bloj
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
- Abstract:
- The value of sanctions does not only lie in their effectiveness. Sanctions are often a means of sending a clear signal of disapproval, a foreign policy stance, more moderate than an embargo, less dangerous than military retaliation. It is thus halfway between inaction and violent overreaction. In this respect, it is not surprising that the European Union has made it a privileged instrument of its foreign policy
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Sanctions, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
183. BDS: Nonviolent, Globalized Palestinian Resistance to Israel’s Settler Colonialism and Apartheid
- Author:
- Omar Barghouti
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite its military, diplomatic, and economic power, Israel’s regime of military occupation, settler colonialism, and apartheid still views the nonviolent, Palestinian-led global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as a “strategic threat” to its system of injustice, waging a protracted war against the movement accordingly. This essay aims to contextualize Israel’s war on BDS by examining the movement’s origins, principles, impact, and theory of change. It analyzes the most critical challenges BDS is facing and its most promising strengths, especially its balancing of ethical principles with strategic effectiveness and its intersectional approach to the struggle for Palestinian freedom, justice, and equality.
- Topic:
- Sanctions, Israel, Occupation, BDS, and Palestine
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Palestine
184. Raising a caution flag on US financial sanctions against China
- Author:
- Jeffrey J. Schott
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
- Abstract:
- China’s policies in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea and its ongoing support for Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela pose major challenges for the United States, where bipartisan pressure is growing to ramp up punitive sanctions against leading Chinese firms and financial institutions. Financial sanctions freeze the US assets or bar US entry of the targeted individuals and firms and prohibit US financial firms from doing business with them. Schott explains why US officials should carefully weigh the risks to international financial markets and US economic interests before imposing punitive sanctions on major financial institutions engaged with China. The collateral costs of such sanctions would be sizable, damaging US producers, financial institutions, and US alliances. By restricting access of major banks to international payments in US dollars and barring use of messaging systems like SWIFT, tougher US financial sanctions would effectively “weaponize” the dollar; friends and foes alike would be pushed to seek alternatives to dollar transactions that, over time, would weaken the international role of the dollar. Instead of doubling down on current unilateral financial sanctions, US policy should deploy sanctions in collaboration with allies and calibrate trade and financial controls to match the expected policy achievements.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Sanctions, Finance, and Economy
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, North America, and United States of America
185. The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime: Prospects and Challenges
- Author:
- Elzbieta Kaca
- Publication Date:
- 02-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The European “Magnitsky Act” adopted by the EU is a political signal that the Union wants to protect human rights in the world more effectively. It fixes the scope of sanctions application in this field, but it does not fundamentally change existing EU practices. Still, the challenges lie in the adoption of sanctions listings by a unanimous decision of the Member States and their subsequent effective implementation. The new system will be used for the first time to impose restrictions on those responsible for the detention of Alexei Navalny in Russia. It may also be used in cases of human rights violations in China or on the territory of conflict areas in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Sanctions, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
186. President Biden’s Challenges in the Middle East after Former President Trump’s successes (?). From Trump to Biden: Continuity or Discontinuity?/Los retos del presidente Biden en el Medio Oriente tras los ¿éxitos? obtenidos por el ex -presidente Trump. De Trump a Biden ¿ruptura o continuidad?
- Author:
- Romualdo Bermejo García
- Publication Date:
- 10-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
- Institution:
- Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
- Abstract:
- The Middle East has recently seen a few bright spots in Arab Israeli relations, as evidenced by the wellknown Abraham Accords, led by former President Donald Trump and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There remain, however, two major unresolved issues: one is that of Iran and the armed groups massively supported by Tehran, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and others that are beginning to have a certain relevance in both Iraq and Syria, as highlighted by international news; and the other, which is more defined, concerns the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme, an aspect that is currently being addressed in the Vienna nuclear negotiations, following the Donald Trump withdrawal from the July 2015 nuclear deal. This highlights the fact that Iran has become one of the most important players in the region and Israel continues to keep a close eye on its activities, not only nuclear, but also those of the various armed groups under its economic, military and political patronage./La zona del Medio Oriente ha encontrado en los últimos tiempos unos vigorosos rayos de luz en las relaciones árabes-israelíes, como lo demuestran los ya conocidos Acuerdos de Abraham, liderados por el ya ex-presidente Donald Trump y por el también ya ex-primer ministro israelí Benjamin Netanyahu. Quedan, sin embargo, dos grandes temas muy importantes sin resolver: uno de ellos es el de Irán y los grupos armados apoyados masivamente por Teherán, como Hamás, Hezbolláh y otros que empiezan a tener una cierta relevancia tanto en Irak como en Siria, como lo pone de relieve la actualidad internacional; y el otro, que es más preciso, atañe a la cuestión del programa nuclear iraní, aspecto que se está tratando actualmente en las negociaciones nucleares de Viena, tras la retirada de los Estados Unidos del acuerdo nuclear de julio de 2015 por parte de Donald Trump. Esto pone de manifiesto que Irán se ha convertido en uno de los actores más importantes de la zona, lo que trae consigo que Israel siga vigilando de cerca sus actividades, y no solo las nucleares, sino también la de los diversos grupos armados que se encuentran bajo su patrocinio económico, militar y político.
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons, Sanctions, Negotiation, Hezbollah, International Court of Justice (ICJ), Donald Trump, Hamas, and Joe Biden
- Political Geography:
- Iran, Middle East, and Israel
187. Economic Sanctions as a Tool of China’s Hybrid Strategies
- Author:
- Rafal Wisniewski
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Polish Political Science Yearbook
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- The article aims to analyze the role of economic sanctions in the People’s Republic of China’s overall approach to achieving its security objectives in the international arena. During the last two decades, Beijing used this instrument on numerous occasions to exert pressure on a varied group of actors. China’s current strategy toward a range of disputes and conflicts it is engaged in (the South China Sea territorial disputes most prominently stand out) is often described using the popular vocabulary of “hybrid warfare” or “grey zone conflicts”. Putting the conceptual complications aside, the author agrees that the PRC’s approach can be viewed as part of a growing trend for great powers to employ what can be called “hybrid strategies” toward its opponents. As part of a broader category of economic statecraft, economic sanctions form an important element of this approach. Considering current scholarship on both “hybrid” (or “grey area”) warfare and economic sanctions, the article answers the question of why the PRC increasingly resorts to hybrid strategies (including economic coercion) and identifies the main characteristics of Chinese economic sanctions. It also provides preliminary conclusions on their effectiveness.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Economics, Territorial Disputes, and Sanctions
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and South China Sea
188. Getting the Balance Right: Refining the Strategic Application of Nonproliferation Sanctions
- Author:
- Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, David Cortright, and Linda Gerber
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Fourth Freedom Forum
- Abstract:
- This paper argues for a greater commitment to sanctions that fit the reality of each discrete case of proliferation, nimble diplomacy that includes incentives-based bargaining, and strategies for reciprocal threat reduction to reduce nuclear dangers and enhance international cooperation for peace and security.
- Topic:
- Security, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, Sanctions, Nonproliferation, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus and United States of America
189. Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Through Multilateral Sanctions
- Author:
- Robert U. Nagel, Julia Maenza, Daniel Salazar, Aminah Mohamad Yusuf, and Diamond Jones
- Publication Date:
- 12-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS)
- Abstract:
- With the next open debate in the United Nations (UN) Security Council on sexual violence in armed conflict scheduled for April, it is timely to examine what the UN and individual Member States can and should do to more effectively address conflict-related sexual violence, reduce impunity, and improve accountability. The Security Council showed encouraging signs of success adopting six Women, Peace and Security (WPS) resolutions since 2010, despite the Council’s increased divisions over that period. As recently as 2019, the Council adopted Resolution 2467, which recognizes the importance of national governments’ ownership and responsibility in addressing sexual violence and its root causes.2 Nevertheless, the Council displays a troubling lack of action concerning reports of systematic conflict-related sexual violence. One of its worst failures is its disregard of the Tatmadaw’s pattern of brutality and violence in Myanmar, both before and after the military’s coup d’état on February 1, 2021. The Tatmadaw is responsible for the vast majority of sexual violence in Myanmar including 82 percent of all gang rapes in the country.3 Their use of sexual violence likely amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.4 Protection from sexual violence in armed conflict has been one of the most prominent aspects of the Women, Peace and Security agenda,5 but the Security Council’s silence about Myanmar demonstrates that the WPS consensus exists only in theory. With no indication of abating internal tensions in the Security Council, individual Member States must find other ways of working together to live up to their commitments to human rights, the WPS agenda, and the Responsibility to Protect.
- Topic:
- Sanctions, Conflict, Multilateralism, and Sexual Violence
- Political Geography:
- Southeast Asia and Myanmar
190. Germany-Turkey Relations: It could be worse
- Author:
- Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere
- Publication Date:
- 12-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- Germany at the end of 2020 finds itself in an awkward position. It is hailed by President Erdogan as one of the “reasonable countries within the EU” and by Ibrahim Kalin as having “played a remarkably positive role.” Germany has “gained” this esteem because of its mediation efforts between Greece and Turkey concerning the tensions in the East Med and for avoiding harsher EU sanctions. However, concerning the clash between France and Turkey over Islam(ism) and freedom of expression, Germany cannot mediate. Similar confrontations will also occupy Germany for the years to come and the German-Turks, now almost 3 million, will be right in the centre of this confrontation.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, Sanctions, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Germany, and Mediterranean