International Sanctions Termination, 1990–2018: Introducing the IST dataset
| Published date | 01 July 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221087080 |
| Author | Hana Attia,Julia Grauvogel |
| Date | 01 July 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Special Data Features |
International Sanctions Termination,
1990–2018: Introducing the IST dataset
Hana Attia
German Institute for Global and Area Studies & University of Konstanz
Julia Grauvogel
German Institute for Global and Area Studies
Abstract
Despite intense public and policy debates about the termination (and re-instatement) of sanctions in cases such as
Iran, Cuba and Russia, research has hitherto focused on sanctions imposition and effectiveness, directing little
attention towards their removal. Existing work has been constrained by a lack of adequate data. In response, we
introduce a novel dataset that contains information on the termination of all EU, UN, US and regional sanctions
between 1990 and 2018. In contrast to previous datasets, which rely on media reports, the International Sanctions
Termination (IST) dataset systematically codes official governmental and intergovernmental documents. It contains
information on the design of sanctions – including expiry dates, review provisions and termination requirements –
and captures the gradual process of adapting and ending sanctions. The article describes the data collection process,
considers IST’s complementarity to and compatibility with existing datasets, and discusses the newly captured
variables, exploring how they affect the termination of sanctions. The results indicate that changes in the sender’s
goals and investments in monitoring devices lead to significantly longer sanctions spells. By contrast, clearly stipu-
lated termination requirements decrease the expected duration of sanctions.
Keywords
gradualism, sanctions, sanctions design, termination
The overlooked importance of sanctions
termination
Sanctions are one of the most popular foreign policy
instruments for addressing violent conflicts, human rights
abuses and authoritarian rule worldwide. While some
sanctions regimes, such as the Western arms embargoes
against China,have remained in effect for decades withno
sign of relief, most are eventually lifted. Of the 399 sanc-
tions cases that were either already in place as of 1990 or
imposed thereafter, more than 73% had been lifted as of
2018 according to our newly gathered data. However,
research on the termination of sanctions remains scarce.
This is even more surprising when one considers the
issue’s key empirical, conceptual and practical relevance.
With the proliferation of sanctions after the end of
the Cold War, their termination has also become a
ubiquitous phenomenon. Yet, researchers have paid little
attention to the causes, processes and consequences of
ending international sanctions (for notable exceptions,
see Krustev & Morgan, 2011; Attia, Grauvogel & von
Soest, 2020). The few existing studies on the varying
duration and termination of sanctions (Bolks & Al-
Sowayel, 2000; Dorussen & Mo, 2001; McGillivray &
Stam, 2004) do not capture sanctions termination in the
21st century, as they rely on older datasets. Theoreti-
cally, this lack of scholarship on the termination of sanc-
tions limits our understanding of sanctions as a key
foreign policy tool. For example, we do not know
whether design features of sanctions – such as expiry
Corresponding author:
hana.attia@giga-hamburg.de
Journal of Peace Research
2023, Vol. 60(4) 709–719
ªThe Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00223433221087080
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