Research Seminar on Sanctions

Professor

Thomas Biersteker
thomas.biersteker@graduateinstitute.ch
+41 22 908 58 07

Office hours:
Wednesdays 14:00 -16:00
(CV 315)

Assistant

Georg von Kalckreuth
georg.von.kalckreuth@graduateinstitute.ch
+41 22 908 59 41

Office hours:
Tuesdays 14:15-16:00
(Rigot 26)

Course Description

This advanced research seminar will examine the use of sanctions as an instrument of economic and political coercion in the contemporary international system. Individual student participants will have the opportunity to conduct original empirical research on the design, utility, and consequences of sanctions, including both unilateral and multilateral measures. Special attention will be given to the analysis of targeted sanctions, which were first introduced in the early 1990s and have become the only type of multilateral sanction employed by the United Nations. Students will have the opportunity to select a research topic, design an original project, receive critical feedback from their peers, and revise their final term papers. The end goal is to produce either a publishable paper or a pilot version of a thesis project.

Syllabus

This advanced research seminar will examine the use of sanctions as an instrument of economic and political coercion in the contemporary international system. Individual student participants will have the opportunity to conduct original empirical research on the design, utility, and consequences of sanctions, including both unilateral and multilateral measures. Special attention will be given to the analysis of targeted sanctions, which were first introduced in the early 1990s and have become the only type of multilateral sanction currently employed by the United Nations. Students will have the opportunity to select a research topic, design an original project, receive critical feedback from their peers, and revise their final term papers. The end goal is to produce either a publishable paper or a pilot version of a thesis project.

The first portion of the seminar will begin with an analysis of the logic behind the imposition of international sanctions. We will review some of the classic works on multilateral sanctions and begin an analysis of the methodological debates about how to evaluate their effectiveness as a policy instrument. Next we will explore the move to targeted sanctions in the 1990s, international legal aspects of multilateral sanctions, intended and unintended consequences of sanctions, and a practitioner’s perspective on sanctions. We will benefit from two guest visitors to the seminar, Professor Vera Gowlland, from the Institute’s Law Section, and Mr. Benno Laggner, the Head of the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s UN Affairs Section in Bern. We will conclude the first section of the seminar with a discussion of contemporary challenges to the use of sanctions, synthesizing many of the issues considered previously in the seminar.

The second section of the course will consist of student presentations of draft research papers. Depending on the number of students enrolled in the seminar, one or more students will present drafts of their research papers for critical commentary and constructive suggestions from the other participants in the seminar during each week’s seminar. Each paper presentation will be assigned a student discussant to lead off with the discussion of the different research projects. The seminar will conclude with a comparative analysis and discussion of cross-cutting themes and recommendations for future research in the issue domain.

Course requirements will consist of active participation in the seminar discussions, taking the lead (along with one or two other students) of a portion of the discussion of one week’s readings (posing questions for class discussion), a formal presentation of an initial draft of a paper, a critical commentary on one other student paper presentation, and the completion of a term paper (of approximately 30-35 pages in length). Further details about the research presentation and term paper will be provided in class.

Course Packets: Available at Imprimerie Minute.

Seminar sessions and reading assignments

16 February: Introduction

No reading assignment

23 February: The Logic of Imposing Sanctions

Baldwin, D., Economic Statecraft, Chapters 4 and 12, 51-69 and 370-374

Galtung, J. (1967). "On the Effects of International Economic Sanctions: With Examples from the Case of Rhodesia." World Politics 19(3): 378-416, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2009785

Doxey, M. (1972). “International Sanctions: A Framework for Analysis with Special Reference to the U.N. and Southern Africa,” International Organization, 26(3): 525-550, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2706130

Crawford, N. and A. Klotz (1999). How sanctions work: lessons from South Africa, Chapter 2, 25-42

Kirshner, J. (2002). "Review Essay: Economic Sanctions: The State of the Art." Security Studies 11: 160,  http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/ss/2002/00000011/00000004/art00007

Optional readings:

Wallensteen, P. (1968). "Characteristics of Economic Sanctions." Journal of Peace Research 5(3): 248

Drezner, D. W. (2003). "The Hidden Hand of Economic Coercion." International Organization 57(3): 643-659

Hufbauer, G. C. (2007). Economic sanctions reconsidered. Washington, DC, Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Kirshner, J. (1997) “The Microfoundations of Economic Sanctions” Security Studies 6(3):32-64,

2 March: Methodological Debates about How to Measure the Effects of Sanctions

Hufbauer, G. C., J. Schott and K. Elliott (1983) Economic Sanctions in Support of Foreign Policy Goals Washington, DC, Institute for International Economics, Chapters 2 and 5, 29-41 and 74-85.

Pape, R. (1997), “Why Economic Sanctions Do Not Work,” International Security, 22(2): 90-136, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2539368

Elliott, K. (1998) “The Sanctions Glass: Half Full or Completely Empty?” International Security, 23(1): 50-65, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2539262 

Baldwin, D. A. (2000) "The Sanctions Debate and the Logic of Choice." International Security 24(3): 80-107,  http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/016228899560248

Hovi, J., R. Huseby, et al. (2005) "When Do (Imposed) Economic Sanctions Work?" World Politics 57(4): 479, http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/world_politics/v057/57.4hovi.html

Optional readings:

Elliott, K. A. and G. C. Hufbauer (1999). "Same Song, Same Refrain? Economic Sanctions in the 1990's." The American Economic Review 89(2): 403.

Brooks, R. (2002). "Sanctions and Regime Type: What Works, and When?" Security Studies 11(4): 1.

Eaton, J. and M. Engers (1999). "Sanctions: Some Simple Analytics." The American Economic Review 89(2): 409.

9 March: The Move to Targeted Sanctions

Cortright, D. and G. A. Lopez (2002). Sanctions and the Search for Security, Chapter 1, 1-19

Brzoska, M. (2003). "From Dumb to Smart? Recent Reforms of UN Sanctions." Global Governance 9(4): 519,  http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=11477473&site=ehost-live

Tostensen, A. and Bull, B. “Are Smart Sanctions Feasible?” World Politics 54(2): 373-403, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25054192

Drezner, D., W. (2003). "How Smart are Smart Sanctions?" International Studies Review 5(1): 107-110, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1521-9488.501014

Optional readings :

Craven, M. (2002). "Humanitarianism and the Quest for Smarter Sanctions." Eur J Int Law 13(1): 43-61.

16 March: International Legal Perspectives on Sanctions (Vera Gowlland, HEID Law Section)

Vera Gowlland-Debbas, « Collective Security Revisited in Light of the Flurry Over UN Reform : An International Law Perspective », in Vincent Chetail (Ed.),/ Conflits, sécurité et cooperation/Conflict, Security and Cooperation. Liber amicorum Victor-Yves Ghebali/, Bruylant, 2007,  pp. 251-277.

Vera Gowlland-Debbas, "The Functions of the United Nations Security Council in the International Legal System", /The Role of Law in International Politics,/ Michael Byers (Ed.), Oxford University Press, 2000, pp.305-341.

Note: these readings were distributed in class on 9 March. The pieces by Bianchi and Cameron are now assigned for the session on "contemporary challenges", below.

23 March: Intended and Unintended Effects of Sanctions

Mueller, J. and K. Mueller (1999). "Sanctions of Mass Destruction." Foreign Affairs 78(3): 43,-53, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=1785765&site=ehost-live

Lopez, G. A. and D. Cortright (2004). "Containing Iraq: Sanctions Worked." Foreign Affairs 83(4): 90-103, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=13478427&site=ehost-live

Chesterman, S. and B. Pouligny (2003). "Are Sanctions Meant to Work? The Politics of Creating and Implementing Sanctions Through the United Nations." Global Governance 9(4): 503, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=11477468&site=ehost-live

Andreas, P. (2005). "Criminalizing Consequences of Sanctions: Embargo Busting and Its Legacy." International Studies Quarterly 49(2): 335-360, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0020-8833.2005.00347.x

Optional readings:

Cortright, D., Lopez, G., Minear, L., and Weiss, T., Political Gain or Civilian Pain? Chapters 1 and 2

30 March: Contemporary Challenges

Bianchi, A. (2006). "Assessing the Effectiveness of the UN Security Council's Anti-terrorism Measures: The Quest for Legitimacy and Cohesion." Eur J Int Law 17(5): 881-919,  http://ejil.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/5/881

Cameron, I. (2003). "European Union Anti-Terrorist Blacklisting." Human Rights Law Review 3(2): 225-256, http://hrlr.oxfordjournals.org

Bothe, M. (2008). "Security Council's Targeted Sanctions against Presumed Terrorists:
The Need to Comply with Human Rights Standards." J Int Criminal Justice 6(3): 541-555,  http://jicj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/6/3/541

Gottemoeller, R. (2007). "The Evolution of Sanctions in Practice and Theory." Survival 49(4):

99-110, http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/00396330701733902

“Strengthening Targeted Sanctions through Fair and Clear Procedures” (The Watson Report), also available as a UN Security Council and General Assembly document (A/60/887-S/2006/331), June 14, 2006. http://watsoninstitute.org/pub/Strengthening_Targeted_Sanctions.pdf

6 April: no class

Easter Break 10 - 19 April

20 April: Student presentations I

21 April (Tuesday, 12:15 - 14:00, venue TBC): A Practitioner’s Perspective (Benno Laggner, Swiss Foreign Ministry)

Note: there may be more precise assignments from the following readings nearer the time - if not, please read these materials through at least.

UN SC Resolutions 1267 and 1822 (Resolutions 1333, 1452, 1730 and 1735 are optional) - all available through

Al Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee (1267 Committee) - Comittee Guidelines (available at

)

Swiss May 2008 Proposal for a Review Mechanism (envisioned to be distributed in class or ahead of the session with Mr. Laggner)

27 April: Student Presentations II

4 May: Student Presentations III

11 May: Student Presentations IV

18 May: Student Presentations V

25 May: Student Presentations VI and Conclusion