THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Although economic sanctions have long been
an occasional tool of British foreign policy, recent years have
witnessed a significant increase in the use of targeted sanctions,
particularly in relation to financial transactions, and there
is an active current debate about whether economic sanctions could
help to achieve desired aims in relation to Iran, North Korea
and, most recently, Sudan. In the light of these developments,
and the continued use of sanctions in a variety of circumstances,
the Economic Affairs Committee decided to conduct an inquiry into
the impact of economic sanctions. The inquiry has taken evidence
about past and current experience in relation to sanctions, with
a view to determining whether any useful lessons can be learned
about the conduct of policy in this area.
2. Our report is concerned with the effectiveness
of economic sanctions and the part that they can or should play
in supporting British foreign policy. Economic sanctions can be
thought of as restrictions on trading, service or financial relations
imposed on countries, groups or individuals, with the aim of achieving
political objectives. The objectives may be wide-ranging or narrow
and the sanctions may be used in conjunction with other tools
of foreign policy, including diplomacy, economic or political
incentives and the threatened or actual use of force. Sanctions
of a non-economic kind may also be imposed, including arms embargoes,
restrictions on the use of technologies or equipment, travel bans,
and so on.
3. The report focuses on the impact of economic
sanctions. Other forms of sanctions are considered only in so
far as they are used in combination with economic sanctions, as
has been the case with travel sanctions and aid sanctions. By
"impact" we mean effectiveness in achieving the desired
objectives at an acceptable cost.
4. The House of Commons Select Committee on International
Development published in 2000 a report on The Future of Sanctions.[1]
That report was concerned in particular with the humanitarian
costs of sanctions and whether targeted sanctions allow such costs
to be avoided. In contrast, the focus of our inquiry has been
to determine whether economic sanctions are effective in achieving
foreign policy objectives without imposing excessive humanitarian
or other costs. We have also had the benefit of an additional
six years of sanctions experience to examine.
5. The structure of the report is as follows.
The next chapter discusses in more detail the purposes for which
sanctions are used, the principles which underpin their use by
the United Kingdom (UK) Government, and the United Nations (UN)
and European Union (EU) contexts in which UK sanctions are applied.
Chapters 3 and 4 consider the lessons to be learned from the use
of UN sanctions against Iraq and EU sanctions against Burma. The
case of Iraq is considered in detail because it is the last in
which comprehensive UN sanctions were applied against a country
and the experience of applying sanctions against Iraq is widely
regarded as having stimulated a shift in policy from general to
targeted sanctions. We consider the case of EU sanctions on Burma,
partly because it illustrates a number of problems related to
the coherence of UK sanctions policy and partly because the UK
Government has been pressing for UN sanctions on Burma. Chapters
5 and 6 of the report deal with more recent innovations in sanctions
policy, specifically in relation to financial measures targeted
on individuals and groups and sanctions targeted at the trade
and regulation of particular commodities.
6. The remaining chapters are devoted to general
policy issues, and to the cases of North Korea and Iran. In particular,
drawing on the evidence from the earlier chapters, the report
provides a comparison of the principles and the practice of UK
sanctions policy. The report ends with some overall conclusions
and recommendations.
1 International Development Committee, 2nd Report (1999-2000):
The Future of Sanctions (HC 67) Back
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