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Reflections on the Sanctions Decade and beyond

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
DOI10.1177/002070200906400212
AuthorMargaret Doxey
Published date01 June 2009
Date01 June 2009
Subject MatterThe Lessons of History
Margaret Doxey is emer itus profes sor of politics, Trent Unive rsity, and has published
extensively on international organization and particularly international sanctions.
1 David Cortright and George A. Lopez,
The Sanctions Decade: Assessi ng UN
Strategies in the 1990s
(Boulder,CO: Lynne Rienner, 2000).
Faced with unwelcome external situations that threaten national or
international interests, governments must decide whether to respond and, if
so, what form their response should take. This decision-making process is
more complex and likely to be more protracted when multilateral action is
contemplated. Although no two situations are ever identical and it is
important not to draw false ana logies, there are o ften common, or
comparable,features from which useful lessons may be learned, and a review
of relevant past experience should be a component of intelligent statecraft.
When diplomatic, political, and/or economic sanctions are under
consideration as an alternative or prequel to the use of force, there is now a
wealth of experience to draw on. In the second half of the 20th century,
continuing into the 21st, unilateral, regional and, in the post-Cold War period,
United Nations sanctions have been extensively used. Indeed, the 1990s have
been described as “the sanctions decade.”1There were earlier cases of
unilateral and group sanctions, for instance United States’ sanctions on
THE LESSONS OF HISTORY
Margaret Doxey
Reflections on the
sanctions decade
and beyond
| International Journal | Spring 09 | 539 |

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