Are unilateral sanctions effective foreign policy tools?
More often than not, unilateral sanctions end up achieving the opposite of what their authors intend by making the target country more self-sufficient and strengthening its resolve to continue objectionable policies. Examples abound: from Cuba to Iran to Burma, sanctions have failed to achieve the goal of changing the behavior or the nature of target regimes. At the same time, sanctions have deprived American companies of international business opportunities, punished domestic consumers, and hurt the poor and most vulnerable in the target countries. Given this record of failure, unilateral sanctions should be used sparingly by U.S. policymakers.
