Sanctions: The Key to a Longstanding, Powerful, Authoritarian Regime

We have entered a new era of warfare. Rather than tanks, bombs and guns, sanctions have become the weapon of choice. Unlike the aforementioned tools of destruction, sanctions do not cause direct harm. Rather, their harmful nature is disseminated through food shortages and inflation, which are detrimental and, in some cases, deadly. Nevertheless, sanctions do more than empty out grocery aisles and indirectly kill the innocent recipients. While the proposed intention is to combat autocratic regimes through economic means, rather than traditional uses of violence, the effect is often counterintuitive, propping up the very regimes they aim to weaken.

Autocrats feed off sanctions. Financial penalties are often the glue that holds a nation together. They create the perfect launching-point for the creation of the rally ‘round the flag: a period of increased short-run popular support of a country's government or political leaders during periods of international crisis or war. This phenomenon compels us to look at the imposition of sanctions as an indirect attack on a country; leaders use the implementation of these sanctions to forge a strong sense of national identity, often placing themselves as a figure of unity and strength for their people. 

For instance, in Iraq, during the reign of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. imposed heavy sanctions on Iraq. The side effects of these sanctions included the usual suspects: food insecurity and malnutrition, which continued through the thirteen years of sanctions. However, the effects of U.S. sanctions spanned far beyond that period. The effect of ongoing malnutrition, specifically among children, resulted in long-term health problems and cognitive deficits. The suffering experienced by children and vulnerable communities in Iraq during this period changed Iraqis’ perception of the West. As the spread of disease throughout the population came as a consequence of the sanctions imposed by the West, it became clear that Western powers were to blame for the humanitarian crisis.

With sanctions as the main perpetrators, pressure was taken off Saddam Hussein and his track record of enforced disappearances, killing, torture, execution, and more during his tenure. Although the sanctions were framed as “denying Saddam access to funds,” their reach went far beyond that, denying ordinary Iraqis access to basic rights. Therefore, resulting in an onset of hyperinflation, the government could not provide people with livable wages, and critical government institutions crumbled. Hence, the detrimental effects of Western sanctions strengthened Saddam Hussein’s argument that the West was the enemy of the Iraqi people. 

The primary goal of Western sanctions was to create enough pressure to oust Saddam Hussein from power. However, his reign would persist until April 2003, following the United States’ invasion of Iraq. Years after his demise, the legacy of Saddam Hussein is complex and the negative memory of the sanctions remains unchanged. 

This is why countries must be cautious of the power their economic sanctions hold. There is a fine balance between political pressure and human rights violations that gets buried under the sanctions. Once that line is crossed, it is hard to jump back to the other side, and it leaves a vacuum that gets filled by newfound alliances. Sanctions breed isolation as countries are discouraged from trading with sanctioned countries in fear that Western countries will cut ties, thereby motivating countries under heavy sanctions to forge alliances with each other.  

Alliances built on the common trait of isolation are not uncommon and hinder the original goals of sanctions. If the point of this economic weapon is to ostracize, it completely falls short when countries join forces to keep themselves above water in the midst of economic turmoil. As was best highlighted between the relationship of the U.S.S.R. and Cuba during the Cold War, the heavy U.S. sanctions placed on both these countries allowed them to craft a strategic alliance that kept Cuba afloat during the reign of Fidel Castro. 

Even today, decades after their initial relationship blossomed, Cuba and Russia benefit from one another. For instance, since late 2023, Cubans have even been lured to fight in the Russian army with the prospect of high pay and a Russian passport as a reward for their services. This renaissance of Cuban and Russian relations further demonstrates how the consequences of sanctions outlive presidents, governments and, in this case, even countries. 

With the ongoing trade war between the United States and countries around the globe, it remains to be seen how these current events will influence our world today. As the United States unloads its economic arsenal, it is only a matter of time until it resorts to sanctions. The only thing that remains for certain is that sanctions are an extremely powerful tool, and if used without caution, they could aggravate rather than tame.

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