# Economic sanctions: are they ever a good idea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 29, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101 "2006-01-29T18:58:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101/1 "2006-01-29T18:58:47Z")
Last week I went to see what [Paul Bremer](http://ccfr.org/events/pastdetail.asp) had to say about his [year in Iraq.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743273893/qid=1138560615/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6461109-1359900?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) He spent a lot of time talking about how horrible things were before he got there (as if we didn’t know, which was kind of annoying), and about the difficulties his administration faced in trying to implement reconstruction projects (also as if we didn’t know). One episode he described in great detail was going into the neonatal ward of an Iraqi hospital, and the premature and malnourished infants he saw, and the lack of resources as basic as electrical power, so that the nurses would try to keep incubators at something approaching a reasonable temperature by shifting them from the sun to the shade, as necessary. In the Q&A period, an audience member mentioned that perhaps the extreme lack of medical supplies and horrendous infant mortality rates may have had something to do with U.S. economic sanctions on Iraq, and asked whether in retrospect, Bremer might have wished for a different policy. Bremer’s response was that yes, sanctions tend to hurt vulnerable members of society more than they hurt those in power, but they are a blunt instrument, and in some cases can be effective. So, my question: are sanctions ever a good idea overall? If so, what kind of sanctions, and how should they be implemented in order to minimize hurting innocent people? Or is hurting innocent people somehow the M.O., in the hope that the innocent people will get so fed up that they will rebel and solve the problem themselves? (hmmmm, maybe “fed up” was a poor choice of words…) ---
**Author:** ![David\_God\_of\_Frogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David\_God\_of\_Frogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_God_of_Frogs)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101/2 "2006-01-31T01:07:47Z")
Cutting off trade isn’t going to do anything. If it’s a corrupt regime, the problem is not enough trade, not too much. Making the problem worse in the hopes that it eventually gets to be intolerable is backwards. The one exception though is outright aid. Since there is never going to be enough aid to go around anyway, we shouldn’t waste it where it isn’t going to get where it needs to go. That’s not punishment, it’s just the cost-benefit equation. If it’s not a corrupt regime, and we just don’t like them (like with Hamas), then it’s our responsibility to figure out how to act without harming civilians. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101/3 "2006-01-31T02:24:13Z")
What are the alternatives? Condemnation–\>Diplomatic Censure–\> Sanctions–\>War. The reasons for all of these will not go away if you take out the sanctions. ISTM that war would be an option chosen more often since the others are not really effective punitive or deterrence measures. If we allow ourselves to be held hostage by a government who is willing to harm it’s citizens, then any two-bit dictator could manipulate the entire international community. ---
**Author:** ![Ty\_Cobb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee59a6/32.png) [@Ty\_Cobb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ty_Cobb)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101/4 "2006-01-31T20:02:16Z")
Sactions are bullshit. Iraq traded with many nations during the sanctions, all of which would give it whatever it asked for. They were selling oil. There are a lot of nations with zero oil. So their handwringing was for show and we knew it. But show is all that counts for the masses. They never do the simplest analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101/5 "2006-01-31T20:22:06Z")
> [@](#): > > The charismatic Anglican bishop, Desmond Tutu, rallied western support with his call for a boycott of South Africa, **primarily through economic sanctions**. The administration of Ronald Reagan opposed formal sanctions, preferring to exert quiet pressure to speed up reform. But the demand for sanctions could not be quieted, and in 1986 Congress overrode a presidential veto to ban the importation of South African goods and prohibit American business investments in South Africa. > > While some critics believe the sanctions were more symbolic than anything else, others claim that they did contribute to rapid political change in South Africa. In 1990 President F.W. de Klerk released Nelson Mandela after twenty-seven years of imprisonment, opened negotiations with the ANC and scrapped most of the apartheid laws. In 1992 a strong majority of the country’s white population voted to endorse de Klerk’s dismantling of apartheid and the extension of political rights to the black majority. When this happened, President Bush lifted the economic sanctions, claiming that the purpose of the bill had been successfully carried out. From [here](http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/56.htm) and **bolding** is mine. The difference of course is that the impact of sanctions has to hit the portion of the population able to affect change. That was never going to happen in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101/6 "2006-02-01T22:21:52Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > From [here](http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/56.htm) and **bolding** is mine. > > The difference of course is that the impact of sanctions has to hit the portion of the population able to affect change. That was never going to happen in Iraq. That is an excellent point. Even during the apartheid era white South Africa enjoyed what was is in essence a first world atmosphere, with it’s concerns about morgages, 401K equivalents, etc. Just the sort of environment that is directly effected by economic sanctions. If you’re already economically oppressed by your own government’s policies and incompetance it probably has less of an impact, and if you’re politically oppressed what are you going to do about it anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-sanctions-are-they-ever-a-good-idea/342101/7 "2006-02-02T02:41:18Z")
Interesting food for thought, all. But nobody has specific ideas on sanctions that were particularly badly executed, or how particular situations could have been better targeted?