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The Sanctions Age
The Sanctions Age is a podcast that explores how sanctions are changing the world.
Twenty years ago, the U.S. Department of Treasury had imposed sanctions on fewer than 1,000 companies and individuals. Today, more than 10,000 entities have been targeted.
Leaders around the world are imposing sanctions in response to wars, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, human rights violations, and technological competition. As a result, a growing list of countries are targeted by sanctions, export controls, and investment restrictions, including China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Syria.
The Sanctions Age invites the people who understand sanctions best—economists, historians, lawyers, policymakers, and journalists—to explain their use and significance. Understanding sanctions is the key to understanding politics and economics today.
We are living in The Sanctions Age.
The Sanctions Age
The Decades-Long Effort to Make Sanctions 'Smart'
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Alistair Millar on the challenges of sanctions reform.
A quarter century ago, the United States had sanctioned fewer than 1000 companies, organizations, individuals, and vessels around the world. Today, that total is nearly 17,000. One reason why these measures are being used so expansively is the widespread perception that sanctions are “smart,” designed to be maximally effective while causing minimal humanitarian harm.
The notion of “smart sanctions” has a specific origin. The term dates back to the late 1990s, when a broad coalition of policymakers, academics, and advocates made an earnest effort to reform sanctions. In this episode, we discuss the decades-long campaign to make sanctions smarter and why these efforts have fallen short so far.
Alistair Millar is the President of the Fourth Freedom Forum, a private philanthropy that has pushed for sanctions reforms for nearly 35 years. The Fourth Freedom Forum is a donor to the Bologna Initiative for Sanctions Relief, the project behind this podcast. Alongside his role as a foundation president, Alistair is also an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, where he teaches about international security, violent extremism, and counterterrorism.
The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Josefine Petrick.
To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read the hosts reflections on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/