In a new paper, an economist reconceives a pillar of U.S. foreign policy as an indiscriminate weapon that works by harming not regimes but their people.
Sentences that stick with me: "... [N]ational sanctions do not operate like Koh's "discriminate" or "proportionate" weapons, but more like the economic equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction. .... To recognize that sanctions are war by other means is to recognize that economic weapons make the equivalent of war crimes scalable."
So, if it's a war crime to target civilians with munitions, why is it not a war crime to target civilians with sanctions? I mean, imagine that the death and destruction caused by the deep freeze in Texas last year was the result not of poor energy infrastructure and regulation but of Russia targeting Texan energy infrastructure. Would Russia be guilty of a war crime? So what's the difference if US sanctions - whether unilateral or multilateral - starve or otherwise destroy the lives of Iranian or Afghan civilians? If a policy is killing civilians, does it really matter if the policy is military or economic?
Iran, Sanctions and Inflation as a Weapon of Mass Destruction
Sentences that stick with me: "... [N]ational sanctions do not operate like Koh's "discriminate" or "proportionate" weapons, but more like the economic equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction. .... To recognize that sanctions are war by other means is to recognize that economic weapons make the equivalent of war crimes scalable."
So, if it's a war crime to target civilians with munitions, why is it not a war crime to target civilians with sanctions? I mean, imagine that the death and destruction caused by the deep freeze in Texas last year was the result not of poor energy infrastructure and regulation but of Russia targeting Texan energy infrastructure. Would Russia be guilty of a war crime? So what's the difference if US sanctions - whether unilateral or multilateral - starve or otherwise destroy the lives of Iranian or Afghan civilians? If a policy is killing civilians, does it really matter if the policy is military or economic?
What sanctions would hurt working class least, like most Americans, in Russia, Afghanistan and Cuba?