In their most idealistic form, sanctions promise to be a collective, nonviolent way to prevent human rights abuses and promote global norms. But they have often failed to do so, and at other times contributed to economic devastation that has harmed innocent people. Yet they continue to be a central tool in many state arsenals, both because they offer a relatively quick path to influence and because they are increasingly seen as superior to military statecraft or diplomatic censure.
As a result, their use will likely continue to rise – as will all the negative externalities they create. In addition, they tend to be used in conjunction with military operations, which raises the risk of accidental escalation and complicates policymaking.
A major challenge for researchers is to better understand how the use of sanctions has evolved over time, and how that might inform future decisions about when and how to impose them. Fortunately, the Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB) is now available, and its detailed coverage offers several new opportunities for analysis.
First, GSDB provides a unique opportunity to compare the official sanction objectives and the rates at which they were achieved for each sanction over an extended period. This is an important development, since existing datasets typically provide only limited insight into the goals behind the sanctions. Moreover, the ability to assess the effectiveness of sanctions over time allows researchers to take into account new factors that may have contributed to their success or failure.
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