Measuring sanctions’ effectiveness

Thomas Biersteker

Chapter 60 in Elgar Encyclopedia of International Sanctions, 2025, pp 212-214 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: There is a widespread belief that sanctions do not work. However, a systematic analysis of sanctions suggests that while sanctions are often ineffective, there are instances when they are effective. Sanctions’ effectiveness comes down to what one means by “do they work,” how one identifies the different purposes of sanctions, when one makes the assessment, and how one measures “effectiveness.” While the frequency with which sanctions can be described as “effective” is relatively low, it is important to remember that sanctions are applied to some of the world's most difficult and intractable conflicts. Careful and systematic attention to how to measure sanctions’ effectiveness across cases and episodes demonstrates the conditions under which an increasingly used policy instrument can achieve policy goals successfully.

Keywords: Sanctions; Effectiveness; Measurement; Policy outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035339525
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