What are Sanctions?
Sanctions are penalties or fines regarding financial or commercial activities. A country or group of countries may put sanctions on another country, a group of people or organizations, or even an individual person.
Historical References
Economic sanctions were not defined properly until the 20th Century. However, there are instances of similar events occurring in history. In fact, the earliest recorded instance of a sanction was in 432 BC. Sources show that the Athenian Empire of Greece placed a ban on traders and salesmen from the city of Megara from its bustling marketplace. The Megaran traders depended greatly on their access to the Athenian markets to facilitate the flow of money to and from Megara. With this action, Athens managed to deal a heavy blow to its rival’s economy.
The use of sanctions increased greatly in the 20th Century. This was thanks to the United Nations and the League of Nations. They began to use political and financial tactics to force resisting countries to comply with their policies, as well as punish those who went against their guidelines. These slowly evolved into country-based sanctions, which are imposed in retaliation for serious offenses.
How do Sanctions Work?
Economic Sanctions have the most devastating effect on the country they are put on. Governing bodies usually impose financial penalties on offending countries to prevent them from trading with other countries. They may also increase the import duties on certain goods significantly. This causes economic loss to the importer and discourages them from participating in trade.
It aims to disrupt the economic stability of the country in order to force them to comply with guidelines and repent for their digressions. However, it may also affect neutral countries that depend on certain goods and services from the stigmatized country.
Types of Sanctions
There are different types of penalties and fines, that may be imposed depending on the circumstances. Either an individual or a group such as a governing state or a country may find themself to be the subject of these actions.
Economic
Economic sanctions target the trade of goods between different countries. These may vary in nature- from simply increasing the import duty on a good to dissuade countries from trading in it to completely banning exports from that country. Countries may refuse to do trade with the country if it refuses to cooperate with them on certain issues. They may also impose it if they disagree with the country’s practices against its own citizens or against other countries.
A very prevalent example of this in recent times is the United States and many aligning countries refusing to export to or import any goods from Russia after its atrocities against Ukraine.
Diplomatic
Some states may initiate political repercussions against countries whose actions they do not agree with. Rather than targeting economic trade or taking military action, they show their disapproval through more formal actions. This includes canceling any political meetings between the government authorities as well as withdrawing their diplomats or ambassadors from the offending country, as a sign of their disdain. This may affect political relations and goodwill between the two countries in the future.
Individuals
Some bodies like the United Nations have the ability to put them on individuals. In this case, individuals refer to those who they view as threats to the world’s peace and integrity. The most common recipients of it are dangerous political leaders, financial criminals who may affect the economy, and terrorists.
Environment
Due to rising concerns about environmental issues such as global warming and deforestation, some countries may come together and enact it and trade barriers restricting the use of certain natural resources. Some countries may cause harm to endangered species and wildlife via their trading or development methods. In these cases, they may face action.
Military
It involves using military force to apprehend the offensive country. They may carry out strikes using the army, or use physical force to block their ports and other supply bases.
Sports
Sports Sanctions refer to diminish the morale of offending countries by banning their players from competing in international events. They are seen as a sort of psychological warfare, aimed at punishing the governments and forbidding their layers from participating in events and winning accolades for their country. The country in question may not host any such events either, nor can they display their flag and state symbol at the ongoing events.
For example, the 2022 Wimbledon 2022 Championship has banned all Russian and Belarusian players from competing. This includes Daniil Medvedev, who is ranked second in 2021 but is Russian.
Who imposes sanctions?
Individual states, the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the European Union are the most important bodies that can impose it. The UN sanctions mostly target countries that threaten the natural peace and harmony between the countries of the world, or which don’t cooperate with their policies. Breaching any imposed sanctions counts as a criminal offense. Belarus Sanctions are a result of the country’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
U S sanctions against Iran are in response to the nuclear program. Iran sanctions were extended because of its activities to support terror funding. Iran extended support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad, which are considered terrorist organizations by the US.
The country always tried to breach the trade restrictions. The details and examples of the trade breaches are elaborated in the Certified Trade-Based Money Laundering Expert program.
However, Cuba Sanctions date back to 1962 which was a response to the Cuban government’s political alignment with the Soviet Union. North Korea sanctions are a result of the regime of cyberattacks, money laundering, and human rights violations. North Korea is punished by many world powers for its Nuclear program.
Conclusion
Intergovernmental bodies and world superpowers use sanctions to punish countries that go against their guidelines and code of conduct. They may have devastating effects on the country, depending on how they are implemented. A body may impose it on an individual, country, or group of countries as a penalty for their actions. However, it may end up causing more harm than good- to other, neutral countries as well. Hence, governmental and intergovernmental bodies must lay out all their goals and reasoning before imposing them on defaulting countries.
