October 2013 - The cases where sanctions have been applied to protect populations experiencing ongoing or impending mass atrocities are few and have produced mixed results. The UN Security Council imposed various targeted sanctions in 2005 in the case of Darfur, and in Côte d’Ivoire…
August 2013 - Because of the historic mistrust between the United States and Iran, as well as the complexities of the nuclear issue, achieving an agreement will require significant new initiatives and greater diplomatic flexibility on both sides.
This discussion paper outlines…
March 2013 - European courts are challenging the domestic implementation of individually targeted UN anti-terrorism sanctions established by Security Council Resolution 1267. The Office of the Ombudsperson created by the Council in 2009 provides some legal rights for petitioners seeking to be delisted, but it does not meet the standard of ‘effective judicial protection’ established in European court rulings. This report examines the legal issues surrounding this issue and the implications for European compliance with UN targeted sanctions.
April 2012 - Faced with a global outcry against the cost in human suffering caused by comprehensive sanctions in the early 1900s, the UN Security Council began discussion of the potential of 'targeted' or 'smart' sanctions in 1993. After 1994, every case of Security Council sanctions fit this new format, aimed at applying pressure directly to decision-makers and political leaders while minimizing their impact on the global population. These sanctions were largely coercive in nature, and were perceived by a number of states as being cumbersome and punitive.
May 2011 – Restrictive counterterrorism measures are having unintended negative effects on human rights defenders and civil society activists in many countries. This study traces the many harmful impacts of overly broad measures adopted in the name of fighting terrorism—from armed…
October 2010 – Sanctions are integral to UN peace and security strategies in many parts of the world, but they are not coordinated sufficiently with peacekeeping, diplomatic mediation, and other instruments of UN policy. Misunderstandings and inadequate information sharing hinder…
January 2010 – Legal scholar Erika de Wet and sanctions expert David Cortright team up to analyze the core principles of international human rights law in relation to the procedures for the imposition of targeted sanctions by the UN Security Council and the European…
March 2009 – A report to Cordaid, this document considers civil society’s role in monitoring Security System Reform (SSR) and counterterrorism both in policy and in practice. It argues that civil society engagement, particularly with local actors, is central to ensuring proper civilian…
April 2007 – Proceedings from a sanctions symposium sponsored in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations. Co-sponsoring organizations included The Fourth Freedom Forum and the Kroc Institute, The Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University…
June 2006 – This study draws on lessons from 27 years of U.S. sanctions on Iran and research on what mix of carrots and sticks have resulted in past cases of denuclearization. It argues that the escalating crisis between Iran and the United States belongs on the bilateral summit…
September 2004 – This report is one of the first analytical assessments of the work of the United Nations Counter-terrorism Committee, which was created by the Security Council in September 2001. It analyzes the changing responsiveness of member states to the reporting requirements…
May 2003 – This report provides a brief overview of some of the issues associated with the lifting of UN sanctions in Iraq. It also notes that sanctions termination will be necessary in order to clarify procedures for the resumption of Iraqi oil exports and to remove trade and investment…
March 2003 – This report examines the key questions being asked by the international community regarding the justification provided for the invasion of Iraq and engaging in regime transition via war in Iraq. The report employs data from a series of earlier reports as it classifies…
March 2003 – The U.S. and other governments contend that the United Nations disarmament process in Iraq is not working, and that Iraq has been in continued defiance of Security Council resolutions since the end of the war to liberate Kuwait in 1991. This report presents an objective…
January 2003 – This report provides an assessment of the intensive inspection activity of UN weapons monitors in Iraq, which was mandated in Security Council Resolution 1441 in 2002. Issued just after the January 27 update to the Security Council on UN inspections provided by chief…
June 2002 – This study outlines practical policy options for reducing and containing the Iraqi weapons threat without resort to armed force. It suggests steps for reformulating UN sanctions in Iraq. It proposes a diplomatic bargaining strategy for gaining Iraqi compliance with renewed…
April 2002 – Arms embargoes are the most frequently employed form of economic sanction and a potentially powerful instrument of UN peace- and security-building. By denying aggressors and human rights abusers the implements of war and repression, arms embargoes contribute…
November 2001 – The Security Council has significantly improved UN sanctions policy in recent years. Most notable have been steps toward sharpening sanctions design, applying more targeted measures called ‘smart sanctions,’ strengthening monitoring and enforcement,…
March 2001 – This report and the larger study it anticipates began in October 2000 as an extension of the ongoing sanctions research undertaken at the urging of UN member states to explore the possibility of an alternative to the UN comprehensive embargo against Iraq that had been…
March 2001 – India and Pakistan stand at a nuclear crossroads, poised between demonstrated nuclear weapons status and the deployment of deliverable nuclear arsenals. The presence of nuclear weapons in the volatile and strategically located region of South Asia poses a serious threat…
May 2000 – The paper contains a review of case studies and empirical research examining the ways in which positive inducements shape…
March 1999 – Sustained increases in young child mortality are extremely rare. In Iraq, there have been many reports suggesting a rise in rates of death and disease since the Gulf War of January/February 1991 and the economic sanctions that followed it and continue to this…
February 1998 – This report was commissioned by the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs to provide a multifaceted research review of the impact of multilateral sanctions, including the development of a methodology for data gathering and assessing such impact that…
November 1997 This report is the result of the most comprehensive independent investigation ever conducted of Pakistani attitudes toward nuclear weapons. Based on more than 900 30-minute interviews with educated professionals in eight Pakistani cities, it provides candid evidence…
October 1995 – This report summarizes some key human rights principles that apply to economic sanctions. The principles include the necessity of avoiding harm to innocent and vulnerable populations, the importance of targeting pressures against decision-making elites who…
November 1994 – This study summarizes the results of a 1994 survey of approximately 1,000 educated Indian elites on attitudes toward nuclear weapons policy. The survey results showed broad support for Indian government policy at the time, which consisted of neither confirming…