Sanctions As War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy

Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Acknowledgments
Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
Chapter 1 Introduction: Why Are Economic Sanctions a Form of War?
	1 Demystifying the Role of Sanctions within International Governance: Moving beyond Orthodox International Relations Theory
	2 Conceptual Trend 1: Sanctions’ Regimes as Geo-Economic Games within a Traditional International Relations Approach
	3 Conceptual Trend 2: Opposition to Sanctions on Humanitarian Grounds and the Problem of Criticism without Structural Critique
	4 US Sanctions and American Imperialism: Overlapping Economic and Geopolitical Concerns in the Waning American Century
	5 Organization of the Book
		5.1 Part 1: Situating Economic Sanctions in International Political Economy
		5.2 Part 2: Case Studies of Sanctioned Nation-States
		5.3 Part 3: Resistance to Sanctions and Sanctions as Resistance
	References
Part 1 Theorizing and Situating Economic Sanctions in International Political Economy
	Chapter 2 Sanctions as Instrument of Coercion: Characteristics, Limitations, and Consequences
		1 Taxonomy of Sanctions
			1.1 Form of Economic Activity
			1.2 Reach: Unilateral vs. Multilateral
			1.3 Focus and Effects
		2 Objectives and Functions of Sanctions
			2.1 Sanctions as Warning
			2.2 Trade Disputes and Declining Competitiveness
			2.3 Subjugation/Regime Change
			2.4 A Complement to Covert Kinetic War or Precursor to Military Action
		3 Sanctions and Soft Power
			3.1 Economic
			3.2 Military
			3.3 Political/Diplomatic
			3.4 Science and Technology Dominance
		4 Sanctions and US Imperialism: Rationales and Ethical Considerations
			4.1 Sanctions as War
			4.2 Militarization and US Imperialism
			4.3 Ethics of Sanctions as a Form of Soft Warfare
		5 Attractions, Pitfalls and Efficacy of Sanctions
			5.1 The United States and the Attraction of Sanctions
			5.2 Unintended Consequences
				5.2.1 Financial Sanctions
				5.2.2 Goods and Services
				5.2.3 Secondary Sanctions
				5.2.4 Collateral Repercussions
				5.2.5 Targeted Sanctions
				5.2.6 Efficacy and Destabilization for ‘Regime Change’
		6 Conclusion: Sanctions as an Instrument of Coercion
		References
	Chapter 3 Hunger Politics: Sanctions as Siege Warfare
		1 Siege Warfare and the Bourgeois State
		2 Sanctions as Hybrid Warfare
		3 Anti-Imperialist Sanctions
		4 Imperialist Fortifications, and the Unity of the Besieged
		References
	Chapter 4 Economic Sanctions, Communication Infrastructures, and the Destruction of Communicative Sovereignty
		1 Argument 1: Sanctions Damage Material and Logistical Support for Communication Infrastructures within Targeted Nations
			1.1 Film Production in Cuba
			1.2 Counter-hegemonic Television Production in and beyond Venezuela
			1.3 Internet Service Providers and Telecommunication Infrastructure in Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and Cuba
		2 Argument 2: The Deployment of Economic Sanctions Regimes Complicates Debates over Press and Speech Rights within Targeted Nations
		3 Conclusion: Resource Denial and Communicative Sovereignty
		References
	Chapter 5 All the President’s Media: How News Coverage of Sanctions Props up the Power Elite and Legitimizes US Hegemony
		1 Introduction
		2 Research Design
		3 Yes, President
		4 New Cold War
		5 Coal, Oil, and Power
		6 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 6 Transnational Allies of Sanctions: ngo Human Rights Organizations’ Role in Reinforcing Economic Oppression
		1 Formation of Human Rights ngo s
		2 Human Rights Watch Advocates Sanctions as Punishment
		3 Spotlighting Sanctions on Russia and China
		4 Colour Revolutions and the Limits of Regime Change
		5 Pushing Strong States into Sanctioning Weak Countries
		6 hrw Mantra: Sanction, Sanction, Sanction
		7 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 7 Sanctioning China’s Tech Industry to ‘Secure’ Silicon Valley’s Global Dominance
		1 Introduction: The US and China’s Digital Divergence
		2 American Global Digital Dominance: The US Empire vs. China
		3 China’s Big Tech Boom: Capitalist Growth and National Independence
		4 The US’s Big Tech Ban: Sanctioning Chinese Digital Capital to Secure Silicon Valley
		5 Conclusion: The US-China Disintegration, Toward a New Imperial Rivalry?
		References
Part 2 Profiles of Sanctioned Nation-States
	Chapter 8 US Sanctions Cuba ‘to Bring About Hunger, Desperation and the Overthrow of the Government’
		1 Introduction
		2 US Embargo? US Blockade?
		3 A History of Incremental Sanctions
		4 International Repudiation
		5 Republican? Democrat? Two Sides of the Same Coin
		6 Obama’s Rapprochement: A Castle Made of Sand
		7 Trump Tightens the US Blockade
		8 Sanctions in a Time of Pandemic
		9 The Financial Cost of the Blockade to Cuba
		10 The Human Cost of Sanctions
		11 Sanctions under Biden?
		References
	Chapter 9 The Western Frontier: US Sanctions against North Korea and China
		1 Manifest Destiny and the Three Phases of US Imperialism in East Asia
			1.1 The First Phase: Competing with Japan over China
			1.2 The Second Phase: The Road to the Korean War
			1.3 The Third Phase: Continuing with War with Sanctions
		2 Sanctions against China
			2.1 The Embargo, 1949–1970
			2.2 China Card Rapprochement, 1970–2011
			2.3 Heightened Geopolitical and Economic Confrontation, 2011–
		3 Sanctions against North Korea
			3.1 Bilateral Sanctions, 1950–1993
			3.2 Entry of the unsc, 1993–2006
			3.3 UN Sanctions, 2006–
			3.4 Effect and Efficacy of Sanctions against North Korea
		4 The Conflicted Role of China
		References
	Chapter 10 A Century of Economic Blackmail, Sanctions and War against Iran
		1 Introduction
		2 Great Powers Rivalry: Russian and British Intervention in Iran
		3 Persian Famine of 1917–1919
		4 The Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Seeds of the First Economic Sanctions
		5 Britain’s Own Men: The 1921 Coup and the Emergence of Reza Shah
		6 Cancellation of the D’Arcy Concessions and the Rise of Iranian Nationalism
		7 The Nationalization of Iran’s Oil Industry
		8 Britain’s Economic Wars on Iran
		9 The 1953 Coup
		10 The Coup Regime of 1953–1979
		11 The 1979 Revolution, the Hostage Crisis, and the Beginning of the United States Sanctions
		12 Sanctions, Threats and Military Attacks in the Reagan Era
		13 The History of US Sanctions since the 1980s
			13.1 Sanctions Imposed by the George H.W. Bush Administration
			13.2 Sanctions and Military Threats during the Clinton Administration
			13.3 Sanctions and Military Threats during the George W. Bush Administration
			13.4 Sanctions Imposed by the Obama Administration
			13.5 Sanctions Imposed by the Trump Administration
		14 Conclusion: The Effect of Economic War on the Social Fabric and National Development of Iran
		Acknowledgment
		References
	Chapter 11 Sanctions and Nation Breaking: Yugoslavia, 1990–2000
		1 The Imposition of Sanctions
		2 Cashing In on Sanctions
		References
	Chapter 12 Targeted Sanctions and the Failure of the Regime Change Agenda in Zimbabwe
		1 Introduction
		2 Theoretical Framework: Agenda Setting and Framing
		3 Literature Review: The Effectiveness of Sanctions
		4 Effectiveness of Sanctions against Zimbabwe
		5 How zanu pf Created the Rally-Around Effect’ against ‘Targeted’ Sanctions
		6 Conclusion and Policy Recommendations
		References
	Chapter 13 Iraq: Understanding the ‘Sanctions Warfare Regime’
		1 The Economic Blockade
		2 The Oil-for-Food Program
		3 ‘War in Permanence’
		4 The ‘Sanctions Warfare Regime’
		5 Exceptional Circumstances
		6 The War on Rogue States
		7 ‘Internationalization qua Cantonization’
		8 Asymmetrical Containment
		9 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 14 Writing Out Empire: The Case of the Syria Sanctions
		1 History of Sanctions against Syria
		2 Starving Syria: The Impacts of Sanctions on Syria’s Population
		3 Writing Out Empire: US Media Silences on the Syria Sanctions
		4 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 15 The Blockade on Yemen
		1 Introduction
		2 War in Numbers
		3 Conflict Background
			3.1 Colonial and Post-Colonial Divisions
			3.2 New and Renewed Insurgencies
			3.3 Revolution
			3.4 Power Shifts
		4 Bombs, Blockades, and Their Consequences
			4.1 Warring Parties
			4.2 Systematic Targeting of Civilians
			4.3 The Blockade’s Impact on Health
			4.4 The Blockade’s Impact on the Economy
		5 Winners and Losers
		References
	Chapter 16 The US War on Venezuela
		1 A Brief History of US Foreign Policy towards Venezuela
		2 Economic Consequences of US Sanctions
		3 Social Consequences of US Sanctions
		4 Political Consequences of Sanctions
		5 Geopolitics of the Sanctions against Venezuela
		6 Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 17 Trying to Unbalance Russia: The Fraudulent Origins and Impact of US Sanctions on Russia
		1 A New Battlefield for the United States
		2 The Browder-Magnitsky Hoax
		3 A Foreign Version of a Russian Oligarch
		4 New Cold War and American Double Standards
		5 Economic Impact of the Sanctions
		6 Putin Responds
		References
	Chapter 18 The Political Economy of US Sanctions against China
		1 The Evolving US-China Relationship
		2 Examining Recent Sanctions
		3 Conclusion
		References
Part 3 Resistance to Economic Sanctions and Economic Sanctions as Resistance
	Chapter 19 Blowback to US Sanctions Policy
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 20 International Solidarity against US Counterinsurgency
		1 Shared History
		2 Counterinsurgency as Liberal Democratic Tool
		3 Solidarity vs. Sanctions
		References
	Chapter 21 Boycott and Sanctions as Tactics in the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement
		1 Introduction to Boycott as Strategy
		2 Background to anc’s Employment of Boycott
		3 Theorizing Boycott as a Tactic in the Struggle against Apartheid
		4 The Shift from Boycott to Sanctions in the ‘South African State in Exile’: Solidarity within African States, the Global South, and Settler Colonial States
		5 Lessons from the Anti-Apartheid Boycott and Sanctions Movement
		6 Conclusion: Forgetting the Human Costs of Boycott
		References
	Chapter 22 Settler Colonialism, Imperialism and Sanctions from Below: Palestine and the bds Movement
		1 A Brief History of the Use of Sanctions and Boycotts from Below
		2 The Palestinian-Led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement
		3 bds in the Imperialist Core
		4 bds in the Periphery
		5 bds: The “Floor Not the Ceiling” of Global Palestine Solidarity
		References
	Chapter 23 Epilogue
		1 How are sanctions war?
		2 How do sanctions serve imperialism? How do sanctions relate to American ambitions?
		3 Are economic sanctions effective? When do specific sanctions regimes against a targeted state end?
		4 If sanctions can be characterized as both brutally humane and provenly ineffective, why are they tolerated? How are sanctions ‘marketed’ to the public? Why do people not care more about them?
		5 What do anti-imperialist sanctions look like? How can the strategy of imposing sanctions as a prescriptive mandate be mobilized to support causes that work against the oppressive nature of the existing geopolitical order?
		6 Conclusion
		References
Index