Global sanctions are an important tool for international peace and security. They prevent countries around the world from aiding terrorist groups by stopping them from being financially supported. They also aim to prevent a country from being able to fully use its own resources by stopping other countries from accessing their products. The use of these tools has increased in modern times as the number of terrorist attacks have risen.
There are 14 active sanction regimes that focus on a range of issues including political settlement of conflicts, non-proliferation and countering terrorism. Each is administered by a committee chaired by a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. There are 9 monitoring and reporting groups, teams and panels that support the work of these committees.
The effectiveness of sanctions depends on many different factors. It is crucial that the sanctions are aimed at the correct target country. The sanctions must also be well designed to avoid negative externalities for the implementing country. Lastly, it is crucial that the sanctions are not perceived as an instrument of imperialism by the target country’s population. Otherwise, the sanction will only fuel a sense of victimhood that can undermine the legitimacy of the rulers of the target state.
The Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB) provides a unique new dataset that lists the official sanction objectives alongside an assessment of their success score. This opens up a range of new avenues for analysis that are not available in existing sanctions datasets.