Sanctions are increasingly employed by the U.S. to promote the full range of its foreign policy objectives. Yet all too often they turn out to be little more than expressions of U.S. displeasure or disapproval, proving to be blunt instruments that are unlikely to achieve desired results, and may even produce unintended and counterproductive consequences.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s use of sanctions as part of foreign policy has brought the international nuclear deal with Iran to almost an end, and the U.S. imposed more new sanctions on Iran at the beginning of 2023.
The use of sanctions as a deterrent weapon raises an important question: Are they capable of actually changing the behavior of states, or are there other factors that affect their effectiveness?
